“Whether stakeholder capitalism, or ESG standards, are being pushed by BlackRock for ideological reasons, or to develop social credit ratings, the effect is to avoid dealing with the messiness of democracy,” Patronis said in a statement announcing the move.įink admitted that BlackRock lost “about $4 billion of flows from various states” due to its ESG stance last year. And in December, Florida’s chief financial officer, Jimmy Patronis, chose to divest $2 billion of his state’s funds. Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder divested nearly $800 million in taxpayer funds from BlackRock in October due to Fink’s ESG stance. Critics began to call it “ woke capitalism.” Then, last year, the situation was made worse when Fink’s annual letter to CEOs echoed his past statements about sustainability, and added a new note about “stakeholder capitalism”-a policy of serving not only shareholders, but also employees, customers, and the public. They’re trying to demonize issues.”įink was first linked with ESG investing back in 2020, when he warned that climate change was fundamentally reshaping finance in his annual letter to CEOs and argued that executives needed to “reallocate their capital into sustainable strategies.” The stance drew the ire of a coalition of over 75 conservative leaders and elected officials who signed a letter to the CEO asking him “reconsider” the announcement. “And for the first time in my professional career, attacks are now personal. Besides his passion for analyzing and writing about stocks, Jim likes to hike in the desert Southwest, vacation in Las Vegas, play tennis, and feed his toddler son Cheerios.“It’s hard-because it’s not business anymore, they’re doing it in a personal way,” he told Bloomberg. After attending business school, Jim switched gears to the investment realm full-time, working for a university endowment, a private wealth management firm, an insurance and financial planning company, and as a Senior Analyst for an online investment newsletter service that encourages the wearing of funny hats.Ī possible but unlikely descendant of legendary brawler and boatman Mike Fink, Jim defies his heritage, believing that investing success requires patience and analysis, not swashbuckling bravado. Prior to joining Investing Daily, and when not incurring student loans hiding out in academe, Jim practiced telecommunications regulatory law for nine years until he realized that he made more money trading stock options than writing briefs. For good measure, he has been a member of the Illinois and D.C. Hopelessly overeducated, Jim holds a bachelor's degree from Yale University, a master's degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, a law degree from Columbia University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business. Jim also serves as an investment analyst at Investing Daily’s flagship investing publication, Personal Finance. He has traded options for more than 30 years and generated personal profits of more than $5 million. Jim Fink is chief investment strategist for Options for Income, Velocity Trader, and Jim Fink's Inner Circle.
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