BlackRock CEO, Larry Fink, warns of risks posed to markets by climate change

BlackRock is seeking to assert belated leadership after having failed to combat climate change for most of the last decade. With $7tn in assets, the world’s largest fund manager is now planning to double the number of sustainability-focused funds it offers, cut from actively managed portfolios those companies that derive 25% or more of their revenues from coal, and grow sustainably-managed assets from $90bn today to $1tn within a decade.

Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO, announced these changes in a letter sent to clients  concurrently with an annual letter to chief executives, warning that climate change represents a risk to markets unlike any previous crisis.

“Climate change is different. Even if only a fraction of the projected impacts is realized, this is a much more structural, long-term crisis,” said Mr Fink.

“Companies, investors, and governments must prepare for a significant reallocation of capital” and assess environmental risks “with the same rigor used to analyze traditional measures such as credit and liquidity risk”.

Read more at “BlackRock shakes up business to focus on sustainable investing” in the Financial Times of January 14, 2020.