Nice to see them take a stand on this. From the Daily Wire:
North Carolina State Treasurer Calls For The Resignation Of BlackRock’s Larry Fink
North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell called for the resignation of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink over his focus on the environmental, social, and governance movement, also known as ESG.
According to a letter sent on Friday and provided to The Daily Wire, the Tar Heel State’s public retirement system invests over $14 billion through the asset management company in a variety of passive and active funds. Folwell asserted that “ideological pressure” from Fink could lead to the use of ESG ratings against state and local governments, while initiatives related to climate change and other causes imply that the firm is not solely focused on maximizing profits.
“As keeper of the public purse, my duty is to manage our investments to ensure that the best interests of those that teach, protect and serve, as well as of our retirees, are always paramount,” Folwell wrote. “Unfortunately, Larry Fink’s pursuit of a political agenda has gotten in the way of BlackRock’s same fiduciary duty. A focus on ESG is not a focus on returns and potentially could force us to violate our own fiduciary duty.”
And it's not just NC:
The move from the state of North Carolina occurs one month after Bluebell Capital Management, a small hedge fund based in London, called for the ouster of Fink, arguing that his emphasis on ESG has “alienated clients and attracted an undesired level of negative publicity.”
Good news - we need to remember that corporations like Blackrock exist to SERVE their customers; not to use their customer's assets as some token for playing social justice games. Lrry seems to have lost sight of this and is not operating in the overall best interests of Blackrock or its shareholders.
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