By Ross Kerber
(Reuters) -Top asset manager BlackRock on Wednesday pushed back against pressure from U.S. Republican and Democratic officials, saying both sides have injected politics into the running of retirement assets and it only seeks to fulfill its fiduciary duties to clients.
The message isn't new but it came in an unusual memo the company sent to 43 state treasurers, auditors and other officials of both major political parties, seen by Reuters.
In late July, 26 Republicans signed on to a letter
questioning if BlackRock paid too much attention to matters like climate change, while this month 17 Democrats responded with their own note describing climate change among the "unmanaged risks" that deserve more investor focus.
BlackRock's head of state and local government affairs, S. Jane Moffat, told all of them that their letters "continue a concerning trend by both parties of politicizing the management of public pension funds."
She cited the company's proxy voting policies and said many clients value having it as an engaged shareholder. "At the same time, BlackRock is not an activist investor," she wrote, and said studies show political constraints on pension funds cost them money or cut their returns.
BlackRock's $12.5 trillion under management gives it much influence on matters like corporate director elections and environmental or social resolutions.
After a period backing many environmental and social activists, BlackRock pulled back its support of them to just 4% of the time last year and likely a similarly low level in 2025. The company has not yet released full voting statistics, while rival Vanguard recently said it supported none of 261 environmental and social resolutions in the U.S. this year.
BlackRock's changes have ended some, but not all, of the criticism it has taken from conservative politicians. Meanwhile, various Democratic officials want BlackRock to take a more activist stance and have threatened to move their own money away.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
