BlackRock Escapes Texas Oil-Boycott List After ESG Retreat
An oil drilling rig in Midland, Texas.
Photographer: Sergio Flores/BloombergBlackRock Inc. was removed from Texas’ blacklist of companies that boycott fossil fuels, ending a three-year standoff over the environmental policies of the world’s largest asset manager.
The move means pension funds and other state-run investment accounts — which manage more than $300 billion of assets — will be allowed to purchase BlackRock shares, invest in its exchange-traded funds and hire the firm for advice and risk management. Inclusion on the list resulted in some Texas entities pulling billions of dollars of assets from the firm.