Sustainability

A letter of support for the Green Finance Institute, Impact Investing Institute and LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment's Green + Gilt Proposal. The proposal emphasizes the strategic potential for a green sovereign bond to scale up the UK’s drive to a net-zero carbon economy with well-defined social and economic benefits. The letter of support is signed by 30 asset owners and investors, including BlackRock.

This whitepaper analyzes the resilience of sustainable investment strategies in weathering the COVID-19-related market downturn in the 1Q and into 2Q of 2020.

In this Spotlight, we explore the intersection of securities lending with short selling and investment stewardship through the lens of sustainable investing.

In this publication, the BlackRock Investment Institute provides a framework for incorporating sustainable investing in portfolio construction.

In this ViewPoint, we analyze the ownership of companies in the MSCI Europe index and examined the proxy voting of their 30 largest institutional shareholders.

In his annual letter on corporate governance, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink explores how companies can achieve long-term financial returns.

In this letter to our clients released alongside BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s 2020 letter, BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee announces how it will incorporate sustainability into various aspects of its investing.

In this ViewPoint, we review current global regulatory efforts to develop and implement more standardized terminology for sustainable investing, and we outline recommendations to increase clarity around (i) sustainable investment product naming conventions, (ii) corporate issuer disclosures, and (iii) sustainable economic activities.

In this publication, the BlackRock Investment Institute provides an overview of sustainable investing in the fixed income markets.

The BlackRock Investment Institute examines climate-related risks and offers a new set of tools for assessing such risks to portfolios.

This paper examines key forces driving a transformation in sustainable investing, and details BlackRock’s efforts to uncover material sustainability insights that can enhance performance.

This document outlines BlackRock Investment Stewardship's framework for our expectations of companies related to climate risk oversight and disclosure, and our typical approach to engagement and voting around climate-related risks and opportunities.

Remarks by Barbara Novick at the Greenwich Roundtable Panel Discussion on ESG: Path to Prosperity or Philanthropic Confusion.

Letter to the SEC following their Staff Roundtable on the Proxy Process.

Remarks by Barbara Novick at the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit on “Building Sustainable Markets: What Is Needed For A Transformation To A Sustainable Market Place?”

In this ViewPoint, we review the roles of the stakeholders in the investment stewardship ecosystem, including asset managers, asset owners, index providers, and proxy advisors. We explore the different approaches to investment stewardship, including BlackRock’s engagement-first approach.

This paper shows why we believe it is feasible to create sustainable portfolios that do not compromise return goals and may even enhance risk-adjusted returns in the long run.

Letter regarding MSCI's consultation on the Treatment of Unequal Voting Structures in the MSCI Equity Indexes.

In this paper, we explore how investors can mitigate climate risks, take advantage of opportunities, or have a positive impact.

This ViewPoint sets out BlackRock's views on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and provides recommendations for policy makers to establish a framework that enables stakeholders and market participants to develop detailed ESG standards and best-practice guidelines.

This paper considers how investors can reduce climate risk in portfolios.

This paper provides an overview of sustainability policy developments to date in major Asia Pacific jurisdictions, as well as the broader evolving international policy environment, examining practical implications, and calling for greater coordination.

This paper sketches out definitions and highlight sources of confusion in sustainable investment terminology that may delay the development of sustainable finance products. The paper suggests clarifying and simplify terminology through standardization.

Lindsey White interviews BlackRock's Michelle Edkins on ESG and BlackRock's engagement with companies.

This paper examines the data investors need to evaluate sustainability in their investment decisions, given the potential significance of ESG factors to long-term financial performance.

WEF summarizes its initial findings on ESG following an extensive consultation process with diverse stakeholders. The paper identifies three areas that warrant consideration by policy makers and the industry: companies face complexity and challenges in ESG reporting, ESG data is generally difficult to compare given the diverse methodologies for calculation, and there is a lack of transparency on what ESG ratings assess.

This World Economic Forum paper considers guiding principles and key questions for boards of directors to consider in the context of climate risks and opportunities for companies.

This letter from the Council of Institutional Investors petitions the NASDAQ Stock Market to require companies to convert differential voting rights stock to one share, one vote within seven years of an initial public offering.

This letter from the Council of Institutional Investors petitions the New York Stock Exchange to require companies to convert differential voting rights stock to one share, one vote within seven years of an initial public offering.

In this paper, the authors examine engagement on ESG issues and find that such engagement can be effective in reducing firms' downside risk. Further, engagement is most effective when addressing strategy or governance issues, and when changes in social policies are coupled with governance improvements.

This paper examines the focus by institutional owners on corporate governance, with a focus on how modern portfolio theory in the invetsment process impacts corporate governance and behavior.

In this paper, Martin Lipton outlines the “New Paradigm”, a corporate governance framework based on the recognition that short-termism hinders long-term economic prosperity. The framework calls for a private sector solution to address this and focus on long-term value.

This paper examines the use of investments in material sustainabilty issues and finds that such investments can enhance value for investors.

The author examines the relationship between various intangible factors and stock returns and concludes that certain socially responsible investment screens may improve investment returns.