Big fund managers blocking key ESG votes

Risk concerns: The BlackRock headquarters in New York. The firm says in a report that it considers biodiversity loss ‘a potential risk to the future financial performance of companies in certain sectors’. — Bloomberg

NEW YORK: The world’s biggest asset managers are consistently voting against proposals intended to protect biodiversity, as one of the fastest-growing corners of environmental, social and governance (ESG) falls flat at shareholder meetings, according to a report by environmental non-profit organisation Planet Tracker.

Fund managers overseeing sustainability and ESG strategies at firms including BlackRock Inc, Vanguard Group Inc and State Street Global Advisors didn’t back biodiversity proposals somewhere between 80% and 100% of the time, Planet Tracker said in a report.