The skirmish between the New York City Comptroller and BlackRock over climate alignment of the city’s public pension funds – a fight worth a $42 billion mandate to BlackRock – highlights the complexity and impracticality of aligning climate expectations, reporting requirements and business imperatives.
Public funds in Texas can work with BlackRock once again after legislators removed it from a blacklist of companies accused of "boycotting" the oil and gas industry. The decision comes as Texas's administration found alignment with the asset manager which backed key economic initiatives including the Texas Stock Exchange.
Nebraska Investment Council is upping exposure to active global equity and is poised to discuss increasing its private equity next year. Elsewhere, the NIC is navigating ESG wildfires as Nebraska's policy makers question passive manager BlackRock.
In a recent stewardship update, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, warned that it will support fewer shareholder resolutions on climate change this year because they have become too extreme and prescriptive.
Incorporating uncertainty into the asset allocation process is a complicated but essential ingredient of building portfolio resilience, something investors are valuing more than ever in an environment where inflation, geopolitical and climate risks dominate. GIC and BlackRock have both developed asset allocation frameworks that incorporate investors’ aversion for uncertainty.
Asset managers have a chance to really impact the real economy with their commitment to net zero. The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative now has 73 signatories and one third of assets in the industry committed. It’s reached tipping point, says one of the initiatives’ founders Ed Mason.
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