Blackrock boss Larry Fink extends investor voting scheme 

Blackrock boss says asset manager will ‘transform’ the industry as it extends investor voting scheme

The boss of the world’s biggest asset manager is giving investors more power in a move he claims will ‘transform’ the industry.

Larry Fink, chief executive of Blackrock, is extending a scheme that allows investors in its funds to vote on ballots held by the underlying businesses. 

Many savers are increasingly focusing on so-called ESG – or environmental, social and governance – criteria for investment.

Power move: Blackrock chief exec Larry Fink (pictured) is extending a scheme that allows investors in its funds to vote on ballots held by the underlying businesses

Typically investors who put their money into a fund run by the likes of Blackrock have little say in the companies that it then invests in.

But last year Blackrock launched its Voting Choice programme. This lets institutional investors in its funds choose how they want to vote.Now Blackrock is expanding that programme.

It is working with communications platform Proxymity to allow individual savers in the UK, who invest in Blackrock’s ‘tracker’ funds, to vote on company ballots. 

Currently, Blackrock clients who hold 25 per cent of the £1.6 trillion of eligible assets are enrolled in the Voting Choice programme.