BlackRock Cuts Backing for Climate, Social Shareholder Proposals

BlackRock Inc. reduced its support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues for a third straight year, arguing that many of the efforts lacked merit and harmed long-term financial interests while doing little to improve companies.

The world’s biggest asset manager backed 4% of 493 such proposals in the 12 months through June, New York-based BlackRock said in a report Wednesday. That’s down from 7% a year earlier and more than 20% in the same period through mid-2022.

The firm, which said in January that its stewardship team was focused on the financial health of corporations, increased its support ...