The world’s largest asset manager voted against 10% of directors of companies that it invests in so far this year, versus 8.5% in 2020, as noted in its quarterly stewardship report. The lack of boardroom diversity or director independence were key issues for rejecting directors.
BlackRock also didn’t have managements’ back on 35% of shareholder resolutions this year, which is about double the rate from last year. The firm also said "no" to management on almost 66% of environmental proposals, a huge increase from 2020 when that rate stood at 11%.
BlackRock criticized board directors in Asia for serving “an excessive period,” while insufficient gender diversity in boardrooms led to director rejections in the U.S.
Compensation was a big issue for BlackRock for companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.