July 25, 2023
BlackRock Extends Voting Choice Program to its Largest ETF
As Liz noted last week on the Proxy Season Blog, BlackRock recently announced that it is extending its “voting choice” program to its largest ETF, with over $300 billion in assets under management. This move is expected to be in effect for the 2024 proxy season, assuming that the iShares Board approves it when it meets later this year. As a result of this move, more than half of BlackRock’s global index equity assets under management would be eligible for voting choice. Here’s more detail on what policies will apply:
Similar to our Voting Choice for pension funds, the ETF pilot will offer eligible investors a range of third-party policies to choose from, as well as the option to continue to vote according to the BlackRock Investment Stewardship policy. Eligible investors will be asked to select from these predefined policy options which will be used to split the ballots based on pro-rata fund ownership. Any investors that choose not to participate or are not eligible to participate will continue to have BlackRock Investment Stewardship vote their pro-rata shares. We believe we now offer the most options in the industry when it comes to voting policies catering to a wide range of investor preferences.
For clients and shareholders who authorize BlackRock to vote on their behalf, we remain steadfast in our focus on their long-term financial interests. The majority of currently eligible clients continue to entrust BlackRock’s investment stewardship team with this important responsibility, consistent with BlackRock’s fiduciary duties as an asset manager.
Since its launch in 2022, BlackRock Voting Choice has attracted more than 70 newly committed clients, representing $223 billion of AUM.5 As of March 31, 2023, $555 billion in index equity client assets are committed to BlackRock Voting Choice (up from $452 billion as of September 30, 2022). See www.blackrock.com/votingchoice for more details.
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– Dave Lynn