Top asset manager BlackRock on Wednesday reported a further decline in its support for shareholder resolutions on environmental and social themes, citing corporate progress on the areas and poor crafting of the measures by filers.
With $9.4 trillion under management, BlackRock’s votes have become key to many contests at companies around the globe and in turn drawn much scrutiny of its practices.
In an annual stewardship report being released with the end of the 12-month corporate annual meeting cycle on June 30, New York-based BlackRock said it supported 7 percent of 399 shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues. According to prior reports, that was down from 22 percent of 321 of such measures in the previous cycle and 47 percent of 172 of them the year before.
