Americans fed up with gun violence now have the chance to speak with their purses. Last week, BlackRock, the world’s largest investment manager, said it was creating several options for investors who want to avoid AR-15 rifles and other civilian firearms.
Gunmakers and most gun retailers will now be excluded from BlackRock’s broader socially responsible mutual and exchange traded funds. Such funds have historically excluded companies that make cluster bombs, nuclear reactors and cigarettes, while favouring companies that are rated socially responsible. BlackRock’s institutional investors will be offered an even more targeted option: they can screen gun stocks out of their endowments and include gun-free index funds in their employees’ pension plan choices without going the whole hog on ethical investing.
This level of pointed shunning is unprecedented for BlackRock. The investment manager began looking at the issue after the February massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida sparked widespread protests against the US’s lax gun laws. The move also comes shortly after BlackRock’s chief executive, Larry Fink, warned companies that financial performance was not enough — they must also “make a positive contribution to society”.