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BlackRock

OVERALL

Owned
USA
Rating
Criticisms

Asset management

World's largest asset manager, with about $7 trillion in assets under management.

BlackRock Inc   USA     website         

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE CRITICISM INFORMATION
BlackRock Inc
Business Ethics 67.2/125 at JUST Capital
JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2023 rankings JUST Capital asked a representative sample of 3,002 Americans to compare 20 different business Issues on a head-to-head basis, producing a reliable hierarchy of Issues ranked in order of priority. Issues are organised under the headings Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, or Shareholders & Governance. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 90th of 951 companies, and 1st of 34 Capital Markets companies.
Source: JUST Capital (2023)
Social 100% on Corporate Equality Index
This company is listed as having best practice on a report card on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality in corporate America.
Source: Human Rights Campaign (2021)
Business Ethics 64.1/100 in Newsweek rankings
America's Most Responsible Companies 2022 by Newsweek and Statista recognises the Top 500 most responsible companies in the United States. Companies were evaluated in three areas: environmental (waste, energy use, etc.), social (leadership diversity, employees and philanthropy) and governance (transparency and economic performance). This company received a total score of 64.1/100, ranking 41st in the Financial sector, and 470th overall.
Source: Newsweek (2021)
Environment World's largest investor in fossil fuels
As the world's biggest investor, BlackRock is also the world's biggest owner of fossil fuel companies. BlackRock owns more coal, oil and gas, and rainforest destruction than any other US company.
Source: BlackRock's Big Problem (2019)
Environment Funding deforestation in Brazil
Amazon Watch's 2020 report, Complicity in Destruction III, reveals how a network of leading international financial institutions is linked to conflicts on Indigenous lands, illegal deforestation, land grabbing, the weakening of environmental protections, and the production and export of conflict commodities. The report identified six major US-based financial institutions, including this one, that contributed more than US$18 billion to nine companies between 2017 and 2020.
Source: Amazon Watch (2020)
Environment 4% in Forest 500 Rankings
Forest 500 identifies the 350 companies and 150 financial institutions with the greatest exposure to tropical deforestation risk, and annually assesses them on the strength and implementation of their deforestation and human rights commitments. This financial institution received a score of 4%.
Source: Forest 500 (2022)
Environment Investing in single-use plastic waste
This company is the world's 7th largest equity owner of companies producing single-use plastic waste, according to Minderoo Foundation's 2021 Plastic Waste Makers Index. Institutional asset managers and global banks are providing billions of dollars to companies that produce polymers from fossil fuels, as much as 100 times more than they provide to companies trying to shift to a circular economy. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest, most urgent threats facing our planet and our health.
Source: Minderoo Foundation (2021)
Social Financing cluster munitions producers
The 2017 update to the report entitled "Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions: a Shared Responsibility" identifies 166 banks and other financial institutions with financial links to cluster munitions producers. This bank is listed in the report's Hall of Shame for having investments in one or more of the 6 cluster munitions producers named in the report between 1 June 2013 to 17 March 2017.
Source: Cluster Munition Coalition (2017)
Business Ethics Financing nuclear weapons producers
The 2018 update of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons' (ICAN) global report, "Don't Bank on the Bomb" showed that 329 financial institutions from around the world invested into 20 companies involved in the production, maintenance and modernization of nuclear weapons. Since 2014 this financial institution invested over US$38 billion into 18 of the 20 nuclear weapons producers named in the report.
Source: ICAN (2018)
Business Ethics World's largest investor in deforestation
BlackRock's Big Deforestation Problem, a 2019 report released by Friends of the Earth US; Amazon Watch; and Profundo, a Dutch financial research firm, tracked financial data between 2014 and 2018 to show that BlackRock is among the top three shareholders in 25 of the world's largest publicly listed "deforestation-risk" companies - companies active in producing and trading soy, beef, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber and timber - and among the top ten shareholders in 50 more of the world's largest deforestation-risk companies.
Source: Amazon Watch (2019)
Environment "Net zero" greenwash
'The Big Con' is a 2021 report by Corporate Accountability, Friends of the Earth and others that makes clear that Big Polluters' idea of "net zero" is part of their continued plan to protect deeply unjust global systems, distract from taking the real action needed, and to evade responsibility for the climate crisis and to continue to pollute. This company was named in the report as one whose "net zero" climate commitments are anything but real action.
Source: Corporate Accountability (2021)
Business Ethics CEO Pay Ratio of 182:1
In 2019 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$133,644. The CEO was paid 182 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.
Source: AFL-CIO (2020)
Business Ethics Excessive CEO pay
As You Sow's 2019 report, 'The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs', reveals the 100 most overpaid CEOs from USA's 500 largest public companies (as determined by the S&P 500 list). This company's CEO, Laurence D. Fink came in at number 26 on the list, having been paid US$27,743,233 in 2018. According to the report, "Most CEOs have come to be grossly overpaid, and that overpayment is harmful to the companies, the shareholders, the customers, the other employees, the economy, and society as a whole."
Source: As You Sow (2019)
Social Gender equality
This company appears on the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, signifying a commitment to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation, and transparency.
Source: Bloomberg (2021)
Business Ethics Green Bond Principles member
Green Bonds enable capital-raising and investment for new and existing projects with environmental benefits. The Green Bond Principles are voluntary process guidelines that recommend transparency and disclosure and promote integrity in the development of the Green Bond market by clarifying the approach for issuance of a Green Bond.
Source: IMCA (2018)
Environment CDP Climate Change Score of C
In 2022, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) asked companies to provide data about their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change risk. Responding companies are scored across four key areas: disclosure; awareness; management; and leadership. This company received a CDP Climate Change Score of C.
Source: CDP (2022)
Business Ethics 52/100 S&P Global ESG Score
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 52/100 in the Diversified Financial Services and Capital Markets category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 23 Sep 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022)
Information Facing Finance profile
This company is listed on the Facing Finance website as a financial institution which invests in companies that manufacture weapons or profit from violations of human rights, pollution, corruption, or international law. Follow link for further details.
Source: Facing Finance (2014)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type Public company
Founded 1988
Revenue 16.2 billion USD (2020)
Subsidiaries Authentic Brands Group LLC (30% owned) 

Brand development and licensing

Purchases brands in the sports, celebrity and fashion categories and licenses the intellectual property to leading retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers worldwide. Acquired Juicy Couture in 2013, Tretorn in 2015 and Nautica and Nine West in 2018. Bought Van Heusen, Arrow and Izod from PVH, and Reebok from Adidas in 2021. Private equity firms BlackRock, CVC and HPS own significant stakes.


  - Volcom Inc 

Boardsport clothing and footwear

Founded by Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall in 1991. Designer, marketer and distributor of action sports apparel and accessories for young men and women. Acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2019.


  - Reebok 

Sportswear

Global athletic footwear and apparel company founded in 1958. Acquired by Adidas in 2005, who sold it to Authentic Brands Group in 2021.


  - Ted Baker plc 

Clothing retail

London-based fashion retailer founded in Scotland in 1988 and acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2022.


  - SPARC Group LLC (50% owned) 

Retail

Joint venture between Simon Property Group, a retail real estate company and Authentic Brands Group, a brand development company. SPARC stands for Simon Property Authentic Retail Concepts.

Contact Details

Address New York, New York, USA
Website www.blackrock.com

Products / Brands

Authentic Brands Group (30% owned)
Airwalk Skate Shoes
Arrow Mens Business Shirts
Geoffrey Beene Mens Business Shirts
Izod Sportswear
Juicy Couture Womens Fashion
Tretorn Womens Shoes
Tretorn Mens Shoes
Van Heusen Menswear (formal)
Van Heusen Mens Business Shirts
Vision Street Wear Snow/Skate/Surfwear
Volcom Snow/Skate/Surfwear

Ted Baker
Ted Baker Womens Fashion
Ted Baker Menswear (casual)

SPARC (50% owned)
Brooks Brothers Menswear (formal)
Lucky Brand Denim
Nautica Outdoor Wear


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