In January 2020, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock—the world’s largest asset-management firm—released his annual letter to corporate executives. The letters had become something of a tradition: part investor missive, part State of the Union, dispatched each year from the top of the financial world. This one struck a tone of alarm that would reverberate far beyond Wall Street.“Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects,” Fink warned. “We are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.” He said that BlackRock would be “increasingly disposed to vote against management and board directors when companies are not making sufficient progress” on sustainability.The message signaled the degree to which a once-obscure investing philosophy known as ESG—short for “environmental, social, and governance”—had become a boardroom priority. For a moment, it looked like corporate America would weigh carbon emissions alongside profits. More major companies soon announced climate goals and… ...[TheTopNews] Read More.
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