Bloomberg Bluebell Capital Partners is calling for BlackRock Inc. to replace Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink over what it says is his failure to move the world's largest money manager beyond investments in fossil fuels.
The small activist investor comes after BlackRock and Fink are attacked by Republican politicians in the US for pursuing sustainable goals and a woke agenda at the cost of returns. Bluebell warns that Fink is hurting BlackRock's credibility by investing in fossil fuels, including coal despite his high-profile role in advocating for so-called ESG investing.
In a letter to BlackRock s board, Bluebell said that they were increasingly concerned about the reputational risk, including greenwashing risk, to which you have unreasonably exposed the company.
Bluebell urged the board to conduct a strategic review of BlackRock's position on ESG to eliminate inconsistencies and contradictions. While Fink could stay on as chairman, the role should be split from that of CEO, Bluebell wrote in a letter dated November 10.
BlackRock has campaigned to promote its climate and governance agenda over the past 18 months, according to an emailed statement from BlackRock.
According to the statement, BlackRock Investment Stewardship did not support their campaigns, as we did not consider them to be in the best economic interests of our clients.
Bluebell's letter was reported earlier in the Wall Street Journal.
Bluebell, small by activist standards, has taken on the likes of Richemont, Glencore Plc, Vivendi SE and GlaxoSmithKline Plc since its launch in 2019. It helped engineer the ouster of Danone SA Chairman Emmanuel Faber last year.
BlackRock, like other firms that have been embracing ESG investing, continues to draw criticism from Republicans who accuse it of pursuing a climate agenda instead of focusing on returns for investors, including public pension funds in their states. Florida pulled $2 billion from BlackRock last week, the largest anti-ESG withdrawal by a US state.
BlackRock poured record amounts of money into US political campaigns this year in response to the GOP backlash. Fink said last week that he has been spending a lot of time in Washington to correct the narrative. New York City comptroller has complained that BlackRock hasn't done more to push corporations to combat global warming. In September, it warned BlackRock, which manages $43 billion for three of the city's pension funds, that it was re-evaluating that business.
Fink, 70, co-founded BlackRock in 1988 and has held the CEO spot since then. Since 2000, its shares have gained an average of 22% a year, far ahead of the average 7.5% increase for the S&P 500.
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