Calling Out Emperor Larry Fink – WSJ

Asset managers, including BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity, mostly invest their customers money in broad baskets of stocks that track an index like the S&P 500. Index funds make sense for most retail investors who lack the time and information to actively trade stocks. But lately these so-called passive index providers have themselves become activists, and not in a good way.

Rather than push companies to pursue higher returns, they re trying to impose their political agenda on corporate America. CEOs and corporate boards can find themselves on the wrong end of a shareholder vote if they refuse to accommodate BlackRock s policy preferences on climate and stakeholder capitalism. Hail, Caesar, er, Larry.

via www.wsj.com