A major European pension fund ended a multibillion-dollar investment partnership Wednesday with asset manager BlackRock, creating potential momentum for U.S. pensions to scrutinize the firm’s climate record.
The Netherlands’ second-largest pension fund, known as PFZW, confirmed to Reuters that it will stop using BlackRock to manage $17 billion, mostly in stock funds, partly on sustainability grounds. The fund for health care workers has total investments of $300 billion.
New York-based BlackRock manages over $12.5 trillion in investments worldwide and has been listed as a top shareholder of U.S. fossil fuel giants, including Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.
Although CEO Larry Fink has framed climate change as a major risk to investment portfolios, environmentalists say BlackRock continues to invest in fossil fuel projects and companies and is backtracking on climate change amid Republican pressure.
