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Suddenly Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street not only have the assets but the power of ESG mandates, which make them a growing threat to shareholder democracy, critics say

A handful of super-charged fund managers control $34 trillion of assets and most of the ESG inflows, giving them 'carte blanche' to shape corporate policies.

Author Oisin Breen July 28, 2021 at 10:35 PM
7 Comments
no description available
John Rekenthaler: I am concerned about the amount of power the [biggest fund managers] wield, even if they wield that power well.

ETFs


Perry E Gibbs

Perry E Gibbs

July 29, 2021 — 8:30 PM
Those who make the rules win the game, and the people are pawns of the game, the corporate way. Nothing personal, it's business!
Theguy

Theguy

July 29, 2021 — 9:50 PM
Seems like every article assumes that ESG only looks at left wing issues... abortion, family values, gambling, porn, etc... never come up. Half of the investors would vote that way.
Karl McGaugh

Karl McGaugh

August 16, 2021 — 2:09 PM
Great article! Yes, something needs to be done to limit this power but what? In my opinion, this began with the changes in the legal definition of a corporation. The limits were removed and now we have corporations owning other corporations. If this was outlawed then flesh & blood individuals would own as much as they want but corporations would be limited to their own stock. Competition would return to the market and individual investors would vote their conscience. This single change would solve every problem in this article and create vast new opportunities for investors. If Buffet wants to invest in a corporation he cannot be a corporation himself. And if he wants to be and private index fund he can not sell shares because he is not a corporation. He could sell his index picks as a research product but the selling of corporate bonds and shares are prohibited unless he is a corporation and if he becomes a corporation he is prohibited from buying shares in the companies in his index. This simple idea of prohibiting corporations from owning other corporations is the best way to limit and prevent multinational corporations (monopoly).
DDearborn

DDearborn

January 23, 2022 — 1:03 AM
Hmmm History is replete with an almost endless cast of some of the vilest, evil, maniacal lunatics that bear a striking resemblance to the latest cast of would-be Kings and Queens. History also teaches us that that simply trying to change our rules imposed by their game never gets you out of the pot because they don’t follow any rules. In spite of the fact that History remains a startingly accurate and consistent guide offering considerable certainty that the latest crop of wannabe totalitarians and/or their seed will inevitably meet a similar fate, we must strengthen our resolve to resist complacency and indifference by whatever means necessary. Keep firmly in mind that if the outcome was as heavily weighted in their favor as we are being led to believe the seemingly endless machinations, manipulations and lies spewing out of every orifice of their regimes targeting the common man would not be necessary. In short, not only is it abundantly clear that the outcome is still very much in doubt, despite their every effort to convince us otherwise, that fact of the matter is that we still hold most of the hole cards…
Mellisa Rose

Mellisa Rose

February 27, 2022 — 6:15 AM
Those that makes the rules wins the game. I'm curious, wonder what did those that made the rules have to do exactly to get where they are at? They have done the unthinkable, unimaginable, and many dishonest manipulations have they put forth, to be in the position they are at. Just think about a bunch of country folks take control of the world... TN. Way to go, what a disgrace you are, & greed doesn't look good on you !
Peter Giza

Peter Giza

September 26, 2023 — 8:13 AM
Heavy sigh. Zero political interest here. To say that greed for money and power and the political maneuvering and manipulation that goes along with it are not behind much of the world of money would be to deny irrefutable history. Knowing those facts let's just dispense with all of the noise and drama. Hypothetical twin girls, best friends, entrepreneurs, married and both love coffee and neither have any political identity. OMG no politics?! Imagine that. Identical you say. Not even close. One regards the petrochemical industry an anathema to human existence while the other realizes things need to change but will invest there. The list of differences is substantial but not long. Both live for coffee, but knowing how manipulated it is as a commodity, refuse to invest in it. Both feel strongly that the current EV path is being manipulated for the interests of increasing the wealth of the über wealthy, not for the greater good of the planet or the carbon units that inhabit it. They are concerned about fresh water impact from industrial operations such as paper manufacturing and cracking. Another concern is over farming and over fishing. And the list goes on. Remembering that they are both apolitical, neither left or right, we continue. Proposed standards spawned by ESG and other paradigms, are designed to measure corporate compliance providing rewards or penalties based upon its performance of the standard. Compliance management is SRO, not via an enforcement body, thus giving full control to the company to manage compliance in a manner executive management feels fits best. And yet, due to the politicization and weaponization of ESG and other similar paradigms, both of the twins will be labeled lefty. What was intended to be a standard of measurement, a guardrail and goad as necessary, has turned into a battlefield of epic proportions. I ask, is there any difference in rewarding or penalizing a corporation based upon its ecosystem impact performance versus financial performance? My altruistic self says no. There should be no left or right, red or blue,... I could go on. At the end of the day it boils down to how much we care as individuals about stewardship of the planet itself. Pete Giza Spitbrook Associates LLC
Brian

Brian

January 26, 2025 — 9:02 PM
Mr. Fink sits on the Board of the WEF. As such, he may have his own motives in this transaction which would be in line with WEF wants and desires, not bank or other federal agencies. He supports globalist control of the world. Period.

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