13 Top Takeaways From BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s Annual Letter

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BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) CEO Larry Fink released his 2022 annual letter for CEOs with advice on how to manage the coming years.

A BlackRock (BLK) sign out front of a BlackRock office in San Francisco, California.
Source: David Tran Photo / Shutterstock.com

Fink’s been addressing CEOs for some time now with his suggestions. He offers it as the head of a company with many investments in other businesses. His letter takes on a tone that reminds CEOs that their shareholders are long-term investors to be listened to.

Let’s highlight some of the BlackRock CEO’s most important statements from his annual letter below.

  • “Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not “woke.” It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is the power of capitalism.”
  • “The pandemic has turbocharged an evolution in the operating environment for virtually every company. It’s changing how people work and how consumers buy. It’s creating new businesses and destroying others.”
  • “COVID-19 has also deepened the erosion of trust in traditional institutions and exacerbated polarization in many Western societies. This polarization presents a host of new challenges for CEOs.”
  • “Political activists, or the media, may politicize things your company does. They may hijack your brand to advance their own agendas. In this environment, facts themselves are frequently in dispute, but businesses have an opportunity to lead. Employees are increasingly looking to their employer as the most trusted, competent, and ethical source of information – more so than government, the media, and NGOs.”
  • “It’s never been more essential for CEOs to have a consistent voice, a clear purpose, a coherent strategy, and a long-term view. Your company’s purpose is its north star in this tumultuous environment.”
  • “Workers demanding more from their employers is an essential feature of effective capitalism. It drives prosperity and creates a more competitive landscape for talent, pushing companies to create better, more innovative environments for their employees – actions that will help them achieve greater profits for their shareholders.”
  • “Companies not adjusting to this new reality and responding to their workers do so at their own peril. Turnover drives up expenses, drives down productivity, and erodes culture and corporate memory.”
  • “Young, innovative companies have never had easier access to capital. Never has there been more money available for new ideas to become reality. This is fueling a dynamic landscape of innovation.”
  • “CEOs of established companies need to understand this changing landscape and the diversity of available capital if they want to stay competitive in the face of smaller, more nimble businesses.”
  • “We focus on sustainability not because we’re environmentalists, but because we are capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients.”
  • “Divesting from entire sectors – or simply passing carbon-intensive assets from public markets to private markets – will not get the world to net zero. And BlackRock does not pursue divestment from oil and gas companies as a policy.”
  • “Capitalism has the power to shape society and act as a powerful catalyst for change. But businesses can’t do this alone, and they cannot be the climate police. That will not be a good outcome for society. We need governments to provide clear pathways and a consistent taxonomy for sustainability policy, regulation, and disclosure across markets.”
  • “When we harness the power of both the public and private sectors, we can achieve truly incredible things. This is what we must do to get to net zero.”

You can read the full annual letter from BlackRock CEO Larry FInk at this link.

On the date of publication, William White did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/01/13-top-takeaways-from-blackrock-ceo-larry-finks-annual-letter/.

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