Top fund manager BlackRock Inc. (BLK.N) gained investor support at its annual meeting on Wednesday as it seeks a middle ground in ESG policy disputes.
At the online meeting, BlackRock said each director nomination received “well over a majority” of votes, and 92% backed CEO Larry Fink and other officials’ compensation.
BlackRock, based in New York, also said that two shareholder motions on climate issues obtained less than 10% support, and a conservative group’s diversity resolution earned 1%.
One climate resolution challenged BlackRock to report how it could boost pension fund client returns by using stewardship and proxy voting to “engineer decarbonization in the real economy.”
Fink refuted. “We have clients who wish for that, but we also have clients who are not interested in that, and our job is to be working with our clients,” he said during the meeting.
With $9.1 trillion under management, BlackRock is a top investor in most major U.S. firms and faces mounting criticism from liberal and conservative investor groups and politicians.
An activist firm and North Carolina’s state treasurer called for Fink’s resignation last year, but prominent proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services supported him as a director.
