25 Facts About BlackRock

BlackRock, Inc is an American multi-national investment company based in New York City.

BlackRock operates globally with 70 offices in 30 countries and clients in 100 countries.

BlackRock has sought to position itself as an industry leader in environmental, social and corporate governance .

BlackRock has faced criticism for worsening climate change, its close ties with the Federal Reserve System during the COVID-19 pandemic, anticompetitive behavior, and its unprecedented investments in China.

BlackRock was founded in 1988 by Larry Fink, Robert S Kapito, Susan Wagner, Barbara Novick, Ben Golub, Hugh Frater, Ralph Schlosstein, and Keith Anderson to provide institutional clients with asset management services from a risk management perspective.

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The firm adopted the name BlackRock, and was managing $17 billion in assets by the end of the year.

BlackRock went public in 1999 at $14 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.

BlackRock merged with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 2006, halving PNC's ownership and giving Merrill Lynch a 49.

In October 2007, BlackRock acquired the fund-of-funds business of Quellos Capital Management.

BlackRock announced in November 2015 that they would wind down the BlackRock Global Ascent hedge fund after losses.

In May 2017, BlackRock increased its stake in both CRH plc and Bank of Ireland.

In May 2019, BlackRock received criticism for the environmental impact of its holdings.

BlackRock disclosed plans to sell US$500 million in coal investments.

In March 2020, the Federal Reserve chose BlackRock to manage two corporate bond-buying programs in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the $500 billion Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility and the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, as well as purchase by the Federal Reserve System of commercial mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Government National Mortgage Association, Federal National Mortgage Association, or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

BlackRock invests the funds of its clients in numerous publicly traded companies, some of which compete with each other.

BlackRock is a shareholder in many institutional investors that own shares in BlackRock.

In 2017, BlackRock expanded its presence in sustainable investing and environmental, social and corporate governance with new staff and products both in the USA and Europe with the aim to lead the evolution of the financial sector in this regard.

BlackRock started using its weight to draw attention to environmental and diversity issues by means of official letters to CEOs and shareholder votes together with activist investors or investor networks like the Carbon Disclosure Project, which in 2017 backed a successful shareholder resolution for ExxonMobil to act on climate change.

In October 2021, the Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote that BlackRock was pushing the U S Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt rules requiring private companies to publicly disclose their climate impact, the diversity of their boards of directors, and other metrics.

BlackRock announced that it would sell $500 million worth of coal-related assets, and create funds that would avoid fossil-fuel stocks, two moves that would drastically shift the company's investment policy.

BlackRock became the first foreign-owned company allowed by the Chinese government to operate a wholly-owned business in China's mutual fund industry.

In December 2021, it was reported that BlackRock was an investor in two companies that had been blacklisted by the US government for human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

In one case BlackRock increased its level of investment after the company was blacklisted.

Anti-war organizations objected to Fink's statement, saying that BlackRock is the largest investor in weapon manufacturers through its iShares U S Aerospace and Defense ETF.

BlackRock was scrutinized for allegedly taking advantage of its close ties with the Federal Reserve System during the COVID-19 pandemic response efforts.

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