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GVas22 t1_itz3zzk wrote

Funny because BlackRock has been under fire from the right for taking too much of a pro ESG stance.

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barrystrawbridgess t1_itz68p4 wrote

The media calls this "The Capital Market Riot" or October 26th. Never forget!

I wonder if their ESG score goes down.

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sumgye t1_itzdrbn wrote

I mean they basically invented ESG and environmentally conscious investing, or at least made it mainstream. This is like surging Apple HQ because they are using child labor. Like yes, but they have also pushed very hard to erratically it.

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Imagine357 t1_itzfjo7 wrote

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2021-10-02/esg-whistleblower-calls-out-wall-street-greenwashing-new-economy-saturday

A fiction. Greenwashed. We do a lot of work to fight greenwashing.

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wwcfm t1_iu0iuqq wrote

ESG investing and more broadly finance is in its infancy. Calling it a fiction is objectively incorrect. Greenwashing exists and the industry is aware. The effort is being made to regulate and standardize ESG finance. These things take time. The EU is definitely leading the charge, but it’s growing quickly in the US as well.

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Imagine357 t1_iu0okt6 wrote

I work for a European institution and don’t see institutions like Blackrock being as mature. The non-banks financial services firms / hedge fund like entities generally care more about money than sustainable investing.

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wwcfm t1_iu1bx4s wrote

Did you edit your comment? I originally took it to mean ESG is greenwashing, but now your comment reads more specific to BlackRock. Maybe my recollection is bad.

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Imagine357 t1_iu1d54e wrote

No edits - but to clarify - I’m critical of the greenwashing taking place by many firms, of which I suspect hedge funds and other non-bank market participants of facilitating. Mentally, I put firms like Blackrock in this bucket as they tend to skirt regulation by their nature as a non-bank. Moreover, they are American and not European, and I know how little US regulators are pushing the climate agenda in comparison to the EU.

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mistermarsbars t1_iu4nn0e wrote

And while it takes time to develop the planet is overheating and mass extinction is just around the corner.

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wwcfm t1_iu9fpow wrote

Well why didn’t you start it 50 years ago?

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sumgye t1_itzigm9 wrote

Lol just want to point out the irony of you linking Bloomberg

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f4therfucker t1_itzfkz0 wrote

And ESG is under fire from the left for being a greenwashing scam.

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TeaTrees t1_itzkhwr wrote

This is a very misleading comment. Some firms who are claiming to have ESG impact are greenwashing, not all firms claiming to have ESG impact are greenwashing

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GoldenPresidio t1_itzmxap wrote

I think your post his fair but the guy above you is still correct. ESG claims are under fire because companies are claiming to reduce the impact to the environment and providing more transparency, but a lot of it is BS

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movingtobay2019 t1_iu05qlp wrote

Not surprised. Claims to reduce impact to the environment makes people feel good. Much harder for consumers to put money where their mouth is.

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TeaTrees t1_itzobjb wrote

Yeah “very misleading” was a bit of an exaggeration. I guess my point is that there is lots of controversy within how different people claim to apply esg, but it’s not the idea of esg itself that is controversial

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f4therfucker t1_iu0ckq2 wrote

Chevron is the 8th largest holding in Blackrock’s core ESG fund, so even if only a small number of firms that claim ESG credentials are fraud, the investment products themselves are also bullshit.

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TeaTrees t1_iu0g1xj wrote

I was just pointing out the way you used it in the sentence was misleading. My point is that esg is a idea, not a thing, it’s like ethics. You wouldn’t say ethics itself is under fire, you would say many firms are under fire for ethics-washing.

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ImaginaryFreedom7 t1_iu10ypm wrote

Grab someone off the street and ask them what they think ESG is and they will more than likely describe impact investing and allocating dollars to sustainable investments. That’s not what ESG integration is. It’s using ESG related information/data to help inform investment decisions and how the data might affect risk and return. A Sustainable Fund’s objective may be to have better ESG characteristics than its benchmark. Just because chevron or other energy in general is a holding doesn’t make that untrue. A large part of ESG scoring is the direction a company is moving.

Naturally if a fund or etf is greenwashing or declaring untrue statements about how they invest there are issues. Blackrock has a team of lawyers regarding their disclosures in their ESG products but a lot of the issues boils down to 1) not a common framework for disclosures and 2) different esg definition among different stakeholders.

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Lovat69 t1_iu156dd wrote

>Grab someone off the street and ask them what they think ESG is and they will more than likely describe impact investing and allocating dollars to sustainable investments.

Grab someone off the street and most of them won't have any clue what you're talking about. Let's be realistic.

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dhdhdfjffjj t1_iu01ry0 wrote

But you know who loves ESG? Investment banks, it’s their biggest cash cow now, and they really don’t need to do shit to maintain it, most of the industry is pretty much a closed loop

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wwcfm t1_iu0j4a4 wrote

IBs are investing a lot in ESG platforms, but calling it their biggest cash cow is idiotic.

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gamut_coax_0d t1_itzuigw wrote

Investment firms should have never touched ESG. It's a can of worms. Tying politics to finance means to the right, you're always overstepping your bounds, and to the left, you're never doing enough. You can't win.

Also it doesn't help that the big three firms appear to be colluding in their ESG efforts. SEC is going to put them in a world of hurt if R's gain power in 2024.

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drbootup t1_iu7hbxx wrote

The Right will complain about too much ESG because it cuts into profits. The Left will complain that ESG is just for show.

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HFY_HFY t1_iu0egqd wrote

Yeah I was surprised by this headline. Fink is a huge supporter of ESG. Moreso than he should be as an indexer.

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