EGO: BlackRock CEO Goes Woke with Investor Money

Silhouette of a man with a crown on his head standing on the word ego against the backdrop of a sunset. Concept of selfishness

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You have read about Larry Fink using your money for everything but profit. His use of ESG investing, i.e. using investor funds like a piggy bank to push his environmental and social agenda, hurts Fink’s trustworthiness. It’s not about investors, it’s about Fink’s ego.

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At Real Clear Markets, Peter Flaherty has written a brutal takedown of Fink and his self-promotional behavior. He writes:

Last week, Exxon Mobil, one of the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas companies, lost a critical board fight with Engine No.1, a “woke” small investor group. The win was predictably spun by the mainstream media as a David vs. Goliath story as well as a milestone moment for a new type of altruistic Environmental, Social and Governance investor.

The truth, however, is more cynical than heroic. Among other things, this is a story of how a billionaire like Larry Fink, a true Wolf of Wall Street, uses other people’s money to simultaneously camouflage his checkered past and help promote himself as an elder statesman of the markets, a beneficent oligarch with a penchant for saving the planet.

The popular media narrative is that this latest Exxon shareholder campaign was conducted by a small group of activist shareholders. But Engine No. 1‘s effort to chivy Exxon into changing its business strategy to please environmentalist investors and their allies would likely have gone nowhere without the timely intervention of Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock.

On Wall Street as elsewhere, size matters. BlackRock is the world’s largest asset management group, with more than $8.6 trillion under its control. To put that number in context, consider that the entire budget for the U.S. Government for FY 2021 totals $4.82 trillion. Compared to BlackRock, Exxon’s estimated $350 billion net worth makes it look like a mom-and-pop gas station. If this were a contest between David and Goliath, Exxon would be David with his meagre slingshot and BlackRock would be Goliath in the cockpit of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

The immense size and clout of huge financial institutions like those run by Fink invite a couple of key questions. In this particular instance, the first and most obvious question is whether the gamble on ESG actually lives up to its hype as a smart investment strategy. I won’t leave you in suspense: Despite all the early anticipation, good intentions and applause, several studies have found either no comparative advantage in ESG investments or, worse, an actual negative effect. The second obvious question is directly related to the first one: Why, then, is Fink committed to an investment scheme that seems to have, at best, no discernable impact and might well be harmful? Because doing so makes him seem less like Gordon Gekko and more like Al Gore. But we know a wolf, even if he’s hiding in bespoke tie dye and birkenstocks.

And lest anyone forget, there’s also this: BlackRock doesn’t primarily invest its own funds. Like children, thieves and politicians, Fink enjoys that most delicious of all privileges – using other people’s money. That far greater supervision of such characters is urgently needed all around, but sorely lacking, seems obvious. Alas, we live in an upside-down age where no one is accused of greed for having the most elaborate designs and plans for using other people’s money – only for wanting to keep your own hard-earned cash.

When the group Fink helms uses the staggering amount of money it manages in order to throw their proverbial weight around, do any of their shareholders get a say in the matter?

After all, these asset management groups hold the savings and retirement plans of literally millions of Americans. These shareholders are real people who, in turn, hold a variety of political views across the political spectrum with regard to the environment, social policies and governance. Are their views being solicited? Are their voices being heard? If not, why not?

This is a perfect example of when you invest, but they win.

Avoid having your money used to achieve the political goals of your asset manager. Your manager should be focused on my favorite investment Y-O-U, and prudently manage your money.

Action Line: If you need help building a strategy that focuses on you, not your money manager’s woke agenda, I would love to talk with you.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.