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Against the background of sustainable finance, this study aims to address whether global asset management firms started transforming toward more environmentally friendly investment policies according to the Agenda for Sustainable Development launched by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.

The authors apply qualitative, explorative research methods through the development of the case study of BlackRock, Inc. (USA). Addressing sustainable finance, the authors compare the opposite to the editorial page (op-eds) communication strategy of BlackRock against real life for the period from 2015 until today.

The op-eds communication strategy by BlackRock is multi-faceted targeting to develop a leading sustainable reputation supported by fine-grained relationships to business and policy makers. This study empirically proves that there is a discrepancy between BlackRock’s op-eds communication contends concerning sustainable finance and the reality. Among others this study found that BlackRock still invests in fossils and increasingly launches passively managed funds with limited transparency standards in terms of sustainable finance.

This study contributes to the corporate social responsibility literature focusing on fossil energy and sustainable finance. As BlackRock did not reply to the authors’ requests for conducting interviews, the authors rely on a broad range of secondary sources including material provided by non-governmental organizations. This study proposes that research should be amplified by further empirical studies among various sustainable finance stakeholders based on the research propositions the authors have developed as a result of this study.

This research provides empirical evidence for business executives and policy decision-makers involved in the energy industry, corporate ethics and global financial asset management.

This study provides insights toward sustainable finance policies of BlackRock with corresponding outcomes related to global climate change and its impact on societies.

This study delivers empirical evidence on the energy transformation from fossils toward renewables against the background of sustainable finance strategies of large asset management enterprises such as BlackRock which is rare to find in the literature.

This paper aims to examine the stewardship practices of BlackRock, one of the world’s biggest index managers, to highlight a tension and contradictions associated with demonstrating sustainability leadership and its actual substance.

To support its argument, this paper draws on the author’s long-standing industry and academic experience, existing academic evidence and documentary analysis.

This paper reveals conflicting data, highlighting a tension between BlackRock’s commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) in its public statements and translating this commitment into tangible outcomes through voting, ESG investments and stewardship reporting, which seem to be more assumed than demonstrated.

This viewpoint is based on a review of existing evidence. It offers some critique on current stewardship reporting practices, which has implications for management and policymakers. It identifies areas for future research in the area of stewardship and ESG reporting.

This paper highlights the need for a more critical interrogation of investor stewardship and ESG reporting and a more joined-up policy and regulatory approach to stewardship and sustainability reporting.

Improving stewardship practices of asset managers will help enhance the social value created by the financial services sector.

In drawing on personal experience and existing literature, the originality lies in the combination of arguments brought together to highlight the challenges of making sense of the conflicting ESG reporting data to see how this may impact policies, regulation and future practices in the area of sustainability and ESG reporting.

This paper is intended as an original contribution to researching ESG from a PR perspective, as well as offering a case study of the use of letters as a mode of corporate communication.

The methodology is interdisciplinary but is centred on a critical discourse analysis of the organizational rhetoric on ESG in the annual letters of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink from 2018 to 2023. The article also considers the content of the BlackRock letters alongside the campaign rhetoric deployed by opponents to ESG over the same period.

The analysis of the letters showed up a difference in tempo and tone between the courteous, collaborative and somewhat “corporate” style of text in the Fink letters and the more urgent and confrontational tone of opponents that adopted a populist line of argumentation against ESG in general and Larry Fink and BlackRock in particular.

While advantages can accrue to CEOs and corporations for speaking out on issues, there are also perils awaiting in the contemporary environment for opinion. The findings suggest it is also important to gauge the intensity of cultural and political division in society when speaking out on contentious issues and make a judgement on whether to proceed based on that analysis. Moreover, in countries where the middle ground of public opinion has eroded, ideology and cultural affiliations can prevail instead of openness to argument and counter-argument on topics such as climate change.

The paper presents a fresh case study of a CEO who has been prominent in shaping the discourse on ESG, which has itself become is a matter of contemporary relevance to public relations. The findings offer original insights that are additive to existing guidance and criteria for CEOs deciding to speak out on issues on behalf of their organizations.

Mutual fund ratings are extremely popular among mutual fund investors, with over 8,000 mutual funds currently available to them and a huge increase in privately managed retirement accounts. Morningstar introduced the star-rating system to mutual funds, grading them on a range of one to five stars, with one star being the lowest and five stars being the highest. Because of its simplicity and resemblance to the ratings of so many other products we buy, the star-rating system has become an intrinsic element of mutual fund jargon. Morningstar experts award 5-star funds a gold, silver, or bronze medal ranking based on their instinctual analysis. This research investigates whether all gold-medal winning five-star mutual funds are equally efficient in terms of risk-adjusted performance. When total return, adjusted expense ratio, standard deviation, tax cost ratio, Sharpe ratio, and fund alpha are all considered, we discovered that not all “gold medal” mutual funds are equally efficient. Investors should take care even among “gold medal” funds since some are more efficient than others.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the performance discrepancies between shariah-compliant and non-shariah-compliant exchange-traded funds (ETFs), aiming to enrich the academic and practical understanding of Islamic finance‘s nuances in the ETF sector.

Initiating with a broad literature review to cement a theoretical backdrop on Islamic investment principles and the mechanics of shariah-compliant ETFs, the research progresses to devise a comparative analytical framework. This framework focuses on assessing ETF performance through metrics like net asset value returns and volatility, specifically analyzing Blackrock ETFs to draw distinctions in portfolio outcomes and asset compositions.

The examination highlights discernible variances in portfolio performance between shariah-compliant and their conventional counterparts, presenting instances where shariah-compliant ETFs, such as ISUS from Blackrock, deliver competitive returns despite their generally lower net assets compared to conventional ETFs like VUSA from Vanguard. Moreover, the ISUS ETF‘s holdings investigation revealed discrepancies with AAOIFI standards, questioning its strict Shariah compliance and adding depth to the analysis of Islamic financial instruments‘ integrity.

This paper significantly advances the scholarly dialogue on Islamic financial practices within the ETF landscape, providing empirical evidence of performance differentials and compliance intricacies. While prior research has touched upon Islamic investing, this study pioneers a detailed comparative scrutiny, equipped with a novel methodological approach, to dissect the shariah-compliant ETFs‘ operational and ethical frameworks, offering invaluable insights for investors, financial analysts and Islamic finance scholars.

In October 2020, Zambia failed to make a $42.5 million interest payment on $1 billion in Eurobonds maturing in 2024, becoming the first African country to default on its debt obligations in the aftermath of COVID-19. Zambia's default highlights the fragmented nature of governance in sovereign debt markets. The Zambian default also underscores the continuing impact of colonial hangover in former colonies in Africa. Fragmented governance and colonial overhang create incentives for both debtors and creditors that contribute to cycles of sovereign debt. These cycles of debt pose a particular hazard to residents within countries that issue such debt. In African contexts, this has led to flows of funds for debt repayment that may significantly jeopardize the well-being of people who are already poor. Zambia's default also reflects the increasing need of African countries to navigate among different external actors, particularly China, which has given loans throughout Africa for varied projects, including infrastructure lending as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. The Zambian default draws attention to the significant amount of Eurobond debt African countries have incurred in recent years and the burdens that such debt may impose. The circumstances of Zambia's default, as well as recent disputes about external debt in Mozambique, reflect continuing issues about transparency and public scrutiny of sovereign debt transactions and the broader societal impact of debt internally within African countries and in relations between African countries and varied external powers.

The procedures and rules the insurance industry writes in the polices it sells amount to a form of private legislation enforced by the state. Such authority creates a powerful lever for social change, from easing the diffusion to new technologies to slowing climate change. What maintains a sense of fairness in the way insurance firms shape society is an informal but stable network that interconnects them around the globe. A handful of specialist firms occupy key notes in maintaining this network. While these specialists aggressively compete over market share and profits, they also prioritize long-term relationships with their clients and competitors.

The Greek sovereign debt crisis had a substantial impact on the real economy and the Greek banking sector. From a period of growth in the economy and high levels of profitability, Greek banks experience a major decrease in demand in the local market, and a large increase in non-performing loans. This had a negative effect on the financing of the Greek firms and households, especially after the PSI and the recapitalisations of the Greek Banks. The Greek banking system has been restructured into four large systemic banking groups and after a long time of depression, the efforts are now being directed into restarting the economy through the financing of firms and individuals. However, the recent and on-going experience with substantial volumes of non-performing loans and strategic defaults, poses many challenges. The same can be said for stricter regulation that was introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis, business model transformation, developments in the fintech and IT arena, and most recently COVID-19 pandemic, all introducing challenges to bank managers. This chapter provides an overview of these issues.