Last year, it helped engineer the ouster of Danone Chairman Emmanuel Faber, even though it only had a stake of about €20 million in the French food group. As an activist investor it has taken on the likes of luxury retailer Richemont, mining giant Glencore, media company Vivendi and pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline. Since its launch in 2019, Bluebell Capital Partners has won a reputation for making big gains on small money. While Fink could stay on as chairman, "that role should be split from that of CEO," Bluebell wrote. In addition, Bluebell urged the board to conduct a strategic review of the company's stance on ESG to eliminate inconsistencies and contradictions. In a letter to BlackRock's board dated November 9 and first reported in the Wall Street Journal, Bluebell said it is "increasingly concerned about the reputational risk (including greenwashing risk)" to which Fink's recent statements have "unreasonable exposed" BlackRock, and which would fuel "a gap between the 'talk' and the 'walk' on ESG investing." Now, Fink's renewed call has caught the ire of Bluebell Capital Partners, a small investor worth about $250 million with a 0.01% stake in BlackRock, according to the London-based firm. Environmentalists even accused the company of making a brazen attempt at greenwashing its investment policy. BlackRock's New York headquarters is a frequent target of US climate protests Image: picture alliance / Siegfried Anthony/STAR MAX/IPx A small-fry rebellionīlackRock's ESG push dates back to 2020, when the company said it believes that "sustainability should be our new standard for investing." Its CEO's newfound heart for nature and human rights was met with skepticism at the time. So its CEO's call for action on sustainability in company policy seems relevant on a global scale.
In this year's letter, published in January, Fink again warned that "every company and every industry will be transformed by the transition to a net-zero world," and added that the only question companies would have to ask themselves was: "Will you lead, or will you be led?"Ĭurrently, BlackRock manages $7.96 trillion (€7.49 trillion) in assets from around the world, including stakes in almost all German blue-chip companies. For a number of years now, the powerful BlackRock boss has flagged change, urging his readers to support ESG goals, meaning investing with "environment, social and governance" aspects as priorities. Larry Fink's annual letter to CEOs is probably the most-read note in American boardrooms due to the influence the head of the world's largest asset management company has on global money markets.
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