拉里·芬克是全球最大資產管理公司貝萊德(BlackRock)的首席執行官,眼下他正在大力推行融合氣候風險的投資戰略。他告訴貝萊德投資的各家公司首席執行官,希望各公司明確如何實現凈零排放目標。
芬克在1月26日發表的年度公開信中表示,貝萊德投資的公司需要詳細說明如何在長期戰略之中體現零排放目標,以及董事會如何審查與衡量。
貝萊德在致客戶的信中警告稱,將對碳排放高且達不到零排放目標的公司采取行動。具體來說采取哪些措施?公司將利用身為股東的影響力,投票反對指數投資組合里碳排放進展落后的企業,也有可能在積極管理的投資組合中刪除相關企業。
此次距離芬克寫下“氣候風險就是投資風險”已經有一年時間,芬克表示,新冠疫情并沒有影響企業對氣候風險的關注,相反,“資本重新配置的速度比我預期的還要快?!彼€將氣候變化稱為“歷史性的投資機會”。
事實上,與“可持續性發展”相關的投資已經迅速壯大。他說,從2020年1月到11月,全球共同基金和交易所交易基金的投資者向“可持續”資產共投入2880億美元,與2019年全年相比增長了96%。
貝萊德還表示,全球有代表性的可持續指數基金中,今年有81%的基金業績高過基準,特別是2020年年初動蕩的幾個月時間里?!敦敻弧冯s志在去年10月的報道稱,貝萊德自家的可持續能源基金(貝萊德全球基金的子基金)表現最好, 2020年總回報率為50.42%。
以可持續發展為核心
2020年出現了一波新的投資產品。貝萊德表示,去年共推出93個“可持續解決方案”,吸引資金390億美元,可持續發展資產同比增長41%。該公司還推出阿拉丁氣候(Aladdin Climate)工具,幫助投資者評估投資組合中的氣候風險。
去年1月,芬克發表聲明稱,貝萊德將重新評估自身投資策略,把可持續性發展作為投資組合和風險管理的核心,退出熱煤生產商等投資。管理8.7萬億美元資產的貝萊德由此迎來分水嶺,華爾街也進入關鍵轉折,標志著投資者對氣候變化風險看法的轉變。在疫情的干擾下,這一聲明確實開啟了對企業和國家來說具有里程碑意義的一年,從日本到荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)都承諾到2050年實現零排放目標。
然而,相關承諾都有些夸大而且缺乏細節,尤其是近期規劃不足。過去一年,貝萊德的戰略也不斷受到抨擊,特別是在代理投票季之后。期間貝萊德在持有大量股份的公司年度股東大會上,多次投票反對氣候變化決議。批評人士認為,貝萊德是個典型的例子,充分說明了雄心勃勃的長期承諾與近期切實的行動之間存在的巨大差距。去年12月,該公司表示2021年將加大支持股東關于氣候問題的決議。
芬克信里還談到過去一年的其他挑戰,如:疫情對經濟造成破壞、種族不平等引發的抗議,以及美國前總統特朗普向拜登總統移交權力引發的政治動蕩。芬克還敦促企業將多樣性和包容性納入人才戰略,并告訴投資者要從環境、社會和公司治理(ESG)更全面的領域關注企業的“目標”,可以提升投資業績。
不過,他表示,對客戶來說,氣候變化仍然是首要考慮的問題。芬克寫道:“在客戶的重點關注事項方面,沒有哪個比氣候變化更重要。他們幾乎每天都會問及此事?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W)
譯者:曉維
審校:夏林
拉里·芬克是全球最大資產管理公司貝萊德(BlackRock)的首席執行官,眼下他正在大力推行融合氣候風險的投資戰略。他告訴貝萊德投資的各家公司首席執行官,希望各公司明確如何實現凈零排放目標。
芬克在1月26日發表的年度公開信中表示,貝萊德投資的公司需要詳細說明如何在長期戰略之中體現零排放目標,以及董事會如何審查與衡量。
貝萊德在致客戶的信中警告稱,將對碳排放高且達不到零排放目標的公司采取行動。具體來說采取哪些措施?公司將利用身為股東的影響力,投票反對指數投資組合里碳排放進展落后的企業,也有可能在積極管理的投資組合中刪除相關企業。
此次距離芬克寫下“氣候風險就是投資風險”已經有一年時間,芬克表示,新冠疫情并沒有影響企業對氣候風險的關注,相反,“資本重新配置的速度比我預期的還要快?!彼€將氣候變化稱為“歷史性的投資機會”。
事實上,與“可持續性發展”相關的投資已經迅速壯大。他說,從2020年1月到11月,全球共同基金和交易所交易基金的投資者向“可持續”資產共投入2880億美元,與2019年全年相比增長了96%。
貝萊德還表示,全球有代表性的可持續指數基金中,今年有81%的基金業績高過基準,特別是2020年年初動蕩的幾個月時間里?!敦敻弧冯s志在去年10月的報道稱,貝萊德自家的可持續能源基金(貝萊德全球基金的子基金)表現最好, 2020年總回報率為50.42%。
以可持續發展為核心
2020年出現了一波新的投資產品。貝萊德表示,去年共推出93個“可持續解決方案”,吸引資金390億美元,可持續發展資產同比增長41%。該公司還推出阿拉丁氣候(Aladdin Climate)工具,幫助投資者評估投資組合中的氣候風險。
去年1月,芬克發表聲明稱,貝萊德將重新評估自身投資策略,把可持續性發展作為投資組合和風險管理的核心,退出熱煤生產商等投資。管理8.7萬億美元資產的貝萊德由此迎來分水嶺,華爾街也進入關鍵轉折,標志著投資者對氣候變化風險看法的轉變。在疫情的干擾下,這一聲明確實開啟了對企業和國家來說具有里程碑意義的一年,從日本到荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)都承諾到2050年實現零排放目標。
然而,相關承諾都有些夸大而且缺乏細節,尤其是近期規劃不足。過去一年,貝萊德的戰略也不斷受到抨擊,特別是在代理投票季之后。期間貝萊德在持有大量股份的公司年度股東大會上,多次投票反對氣候變化決議。批評人士認為,貝萊德是個典型的例子,充分說明了雄心勃勃的長期承諾與近期切實的行動之間存在的巨大差距。去年12月,該公司表示2021年將加大支持股東關于氣候問題的決議。
芬克信里還談到過去一年的其他挑戰,如:疫情對經濟造成破壞、種族不平等引發的抗議,以及美國前總統特朗普向拜登總統移交權力引發的政治動蕩。芬克還敦促企業將多樣性和包容性納入人才戰略,并告訴投資者要從環境、社會和公司治理(ESG)更全面的領域關注企業的“目標”,可以提升投資業績。
不過,他表示,對客戶來說,氣候變化仍然是首要考慮的問題。芬克寫道:“在客戶的重點關注事項方面,沒有哪個比氣候變化更重要。他們幾乎每天都會問及此事?!保ㄘ敻恢形木W)
譯者:曉維
審校:夏林
Larry Fink, the chief executive of the world's largest asset manager, is doubling down on a strategy of integrating climate risks into investing, telling his fellow CEOs he expects companies in which BlackRock invests to make clear how they will achieve their net zero emissions goals.
In his annual letter published on January 26, Fink also said that the companies would need to lay out how exactly such a target is incorporated within their long-term strategies, and how it will be reviewed and measured by individual boards.
In an accompanying letter to clients, BlackRock warned it would take action against those companies that have a high carbon intensity, and which do not align with its own net zero goals. In such a case, what's the proverbial stick BlackRock would be wielding? It would use its shareholder clout to vote against the management of those laggard firms in its index portfolio-held shares, or it would drop the companies entirely from its actively managed portfolios.
One year after Fink wrote that "climate risk is investment risk," the executive said that the COVID-19 pandemic had not distracted companies from climate risk, and instead, "the reallocation of capital accelerated even faster than I anticipated." He also framed the climate transition as a "historic investment opportunity."
Indeed, investing tied to "sustainability" has quickly become big business. From January to November 2020, investors in mutual funds and ETFs poured $288 worldwide into 'sustainable' assets, he said—an increase of 96% over all of 2019.
The company also said that 81% of a globally representative selection of sustainable indexes funds had outperformed benchmarks over the course of the year, particularly during the rocky early months of 2020. BlackRock's own BGF Sustainable Energy Fund was a top performer, as Fortune reported in October—over 2020, its total return was 50.42%.
Sustainability at its core
2020 brought a wave of new investment products: BlackRock said it had launched 93 "sustainable solutions" last year, drawing in $39 billion and increasing its own sustainable assets by 41% year-on-year. The company also launched a tool, Aladdin Climate, to help investors assess the amount of climate risk in their portfolios.
Fink's statement last January that BlackRock would reassess its own investing strategy, make sustainability central to its portfolios and risk management, and exit investments including thermal coal producers, was touted as a watershed moment for the $8.7 trillion asset manager, and for Wall Street. It signaled a shift in how the risks of climate change are viewed by investors, and indeed, amid the distractions of the pandemic, it kicked off a year of landmark commitments by companies and countries—from Japan to Royal Dutch Shell—to target net zero emissions by 2050.
However, such commitments are still generally long on hyperbole and short on details, especially in the near-term. BlackRock, too, has come under fire repeatedly over the last year over its strategy, particularly after a proxy voting season in which the asset manager repeatedly voted against climate change resolutions at the annual general meetings of companies in which it holds large stakes. It was a classic example of what critics saw as a widespread gap between ambitious long-term pledges—and concrete, near-term action. In December, the company said it would back more shareholder resolutions on climate in 2021.
In his letter, Fink also spoke of other challenges over the past year, including the economic ravages of the pandemic, protests over racial inequality, and political turmoil over the transfer of power from former President Trump to President Biden. The executive also urged companies to integrate diversity and inclusion into their talent strategies, and told investors that focus on a company's "purpose," across the more general ESG spectrum, produced stronger results.
However, for clients, climate change was still top of mind, he said.
"No issue ranks higher than climate change in our clients' lists of priorities," Fink wrote. "They ask us about it nearly every day."