NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE
B
lackRock is making history with an innovative policy change: It will soon let its largest institutional clients vote on corporate proxy matters themselves. While critics note that this sea change from BlackRock voting its client’s shares is limited to a small group of well-heeled funds, the move could spark an overdue renaissance for shareholder democracy.
That would resolve a paradox that accompanied the spectacular rise of index funds since the 1990s. The wide availability of low-cost index products democratized share ownership, allowing every household unprecedented access to capital markets. But control of the resulting vote moved in the opposite direction. It is …