Amin H. Nasser, president and chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco, speaks during a press conference at the Plaza Convention Center in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia November 3, 2019.
Hamad Mohammed | Reuters
Black stones said on Monday that Amin Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, will join the asset manager’s board.
The world’s largest asset manager said the move reflects the company’s emphasis on the Middle East as part of its long-term strategy. BlackRock has over $8 trillion in client assets under management as of 2022.
Larry Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock, said: “Amin’s distinguished career at Aramco, spanning more than four decades, gives him a unique perspective on many of the key issues facing the company. and our customers face.”
“His leadership experience, understanding of the global energy industry and the drivers of the shift to a low-carbon economy, as well as his knowledge of the Middle East, will all play meaningfully contribute to the BlackRock Board dialogue,” added Fink.
Nasser has held the top position at Aramco since 2015. He oversaw the oil company’s public listing in 2019. In 2021, Aramco announced a proposal to achieve net zero emissions by year 2050.
BlackRock has been at the forefront of adopting environmental, social and corporate governance guidelines and strategies of the financial industry. The company sells several “sustainable” funds, which have come under fire for its fossil fuel investments, becoming a political punching bag with both Democrats and Republicans criticizing its ESG policies. .
In August 2022, Texas Controller Glenn Hegar targeted BlackRock, placing the asset manager on a list of financial firms. “boycott energy companies.”
In December, Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, said the Sunshine State coffers would begin divest $2 billion of assets managed by BlackRock. “Using our cash… to fund BlackRock’s social engineering project is not something Florida has ever signed up for,” he said in a statement at the time. “That has nothing to do with profit maximization and is the opposite of what wealth managers are paid to do.”
Fink has previously said that asset managers like BlackRock are not “environmental policemen,” but that the company’s fiduciary duty is to provide investors with access to the best and most comprehensive information available. enough to make their financial investment decisions, including climate data.
“As I’ve said consistently for years now, it’s up to the government to make policy and enact legislation, not to let companies, including asset managers, become the environmental police, ” Fink wrote in his annual letter.
One of Blackrock’s famous ESG exchange-traded funds, iShares ESG Aware MSCI USA ETFhas nearly $15 billion in assets under management.
