Yahoo Finance Hedge fund chief Hohn criticises lack of climate action
One of Britain’s top hedge fund chiefs has hit out at the world’s biggest money managers over their record on climate change, accusing them of a “total greenwash”.
Sir Chris Hohn, who runs TCI Fund Management, wrote to asset managers urging them to pressure firms into setting out how they can speed up the shift to a low-carbon world.
In letters sent through his charity The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, he said big asset managers were taking “insufficient and ineffective action” on global warming, The Financial Times reported. He said BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs and State Street all had appalling voting records on climate resolutions.
Vanguard said it “cares deeply about the long-term impact of climate change”. BlackRock, whose boss Larry Fink announced a big push into sustainable investing this year, said climate change was an “investment risk”.
Goldman Sachs is investing £115bn in clean energy by 2025, while Fidelity and State Street both frequently vote against firms on climate change grounds in annual meetings and recently urged oil and gas firm Ovintiv to do more to reach climate change targets.
