BlackRock has expanded Proxy Voting Choice to millions of U.S. retail shareholder accounts
In 2022, BlackRock launched its “Voting Choice” program, providing eligible clients with more opportunities to participate in the proxy voting process where legally and operationally viable. In launching Voting Choice, BlackRock led a major industry movement to help more investors express their preferences through shareholder voting. Since the launch, BlackRock has continued to extend the […]
Joud Abdel Majeid is Global Head of Investment Stewardship, and Rachel Aguirre is Head of U.S. iShares Product at BlackRock Inc. This post was prepared for the Forum by Ms. Abdel Majeid and Ms. Aguirre.
In 2022, BlackRock launched its “Voting Choice” program, providing eligible clients with more opportunities to participate in the proxy voting process where legally and operationally viable. In launching Voting Choice, BlackRock led a major industry movement to help more investors express their preferences through shareholder voting.
Since the launch, BlackRock has continued to extend the pool of eligible client index equity assets that can participate in the program and expanded the range of voting policies from which clients can choose.
On February 14, BlackRock expanded Voting Choice through a U.S. pilot program to eligible shareholder accounts in its flagship iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) which seeks to track the S&P 500 Index, enabling more than three million U.S. retail shareholder accounts invested in the fund. This pilot expands Voting Choice to individual investors beyond institutional investors for the first time since the launch of the program.
