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Photo by Victor J. Blue for The New York Times
The activist investor has history with BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager ($10 trillion in assets under management including, most likely, organisations you buy from, work for or invest your pension in), going back to 2022 when it first attacked the BlackRock ‘pro-environmental’ strategy.
Putting to one side the question of whether BlackRock actually is ‘pro-environmental’, Bluebell’s agitation may feel hard to ignore: Danone and Emmanuel Faber, parted company in 2021 after Bluebell took aim at the company and a CEO with one of the most prominent ethical positions.
BlackRock has itself recently announced that it would no longer refer to ESG, preferring the title, ‘Transition Investing’.
Many CEOs find themselves between a (black) rock and a hard place – besieged on one side by activist groups accusing them of having blood on their hands over climate change and social justice, and on the other by activist investors who decry their pandering to a woke agenda. What to do?Without wanting to over-simplify (but doing it anyway), there are three principles that can help here:
📝 Ensure the strategy clearly identifies how the business will drive commercial performance in a future where sustainability is a non-negotiable. Whatever the political noise, climate and social justice aren’t going anywhere, but nor are commercial realities. It’s hard, but do-able with the right tools and approaches.
📢 Communicate this clearly to each stakeholder group, including activists on both sides of the ESG argument. And involve them in discussions. Investors, environmentalists, customers and employees are all human. They want to be involved and don’t like surprises.
🧭 Find and use your purpose. The right purpose is the most powerful tool to inform decision-making from board-level to shop floor, and the greatest guide to keeping stakeholders informed and onside.
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