Skip to content

13 June, 2025

  • Saved Articles
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Log Out

Board Agenda

  • Governance
  • Strategy
  • Risk
  • Ethics
  • News
  • Insight
    • Categories

      • View all
      • Governance
      • Strategy
      • Risk
      • Ethics
      • Board Expertise
      • finance
      • Technology
    • public markets

      How can we boost public markets?

      Growing companies need adequate liquidity, together with smart regulation and corporate governance that is not...

    • global disruption

      5 essential tenets for coping with global disruption

      With global geopolitical tensions on an unprecedented scale, disrupting markets and data, how can governance...

    • crisis pattern

      How to avoid reputational pitfalls

      There are patterns to business crises, meaning boards can anticipate reputation threats across the stages...

  • Comment
      • View all
    • Warren Buffett

      CEO succession: what boards can learn from Warren Buffett

      The billionaire investor is handing the reins to Greg Abel, after a long, strategic succession...

    • gender pay gap Act now to close the gender pay gap

      This month, it is 55 years since the Equal Pay Act, yet pay inequality persists....

    • leadership on AI How to get ahead on AI leadership

      The question isn’t how AI will change business—it’s whether leaders can harness it to drive...

  • Interviews
      • View All Interviews
      • Podcasts
      • Webinars
    • UK Corporate Governance Code Board meetings ‘are not up to scratch’

      Nearly three-quarters of board members believe the board’s performance in meetings needs improvement, an expert...

    • financial sanctions Tariffs chaos drives boardroom focus on resilience

      Business leaders will prioritise the resilience of their organisations in the face of economic upheaval...

    • ai boards Corporate world has a ‘huge appetite’ for artificial intelligence

      AI could change boardrooms to the extent that directors’ duties would change too, a panel...

  • Board Careers
  • Resource Centre
      • White Paper Downloads
      • Book Reviews
      • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
    • ACCA sustainability reporting 2025 cover

      Sustainability reporting: risk and materiality 2025

      ACCA’s sustainability guide takes a practical approach to helping businesses with sustainability reporting.

    • Cybercrime Trends 2025 cover

      Cybercrime Trends 2025

      SoSafe’s report breaks down what’s shaping cybercrime in 2025, outlining six trends, including AI and...

    • UK Stewardship Code 2026 cover

      The UK Stewardship Code 2026

      The UK Stewardship Code 2026 is the FRC’s update of the 2020 edition of the...

  • Events
  • Search by topic
    • Governance
    • Strategy
    • Risk
    • Ethics
    • Regulation
    • ESG
    • Investor Relations
    • Careers
    • Board Expertise
    • finance
    • Technology

BlackRock CEO: War ends globalisation, but we’ll still get to net zero

by Gavin Hinks on March 25, 2022

Larry Fink’s annual letter warns of strategic challenges ahead, but says recent events will “accelerate the shift” to renewable energies.

BlackRock offices in San Francisco

Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com

The war in Ukraine has ended globalisation as we know it and will bring about significant change to business, according to the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager. But it shouldn’t change everything.

Larry Fink, in his annual letter to shareholders, offers an insight into how he sees the future following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the economic response rallied by western countries. It’s not pretty. But in some ways, the man whose organisation has $10.1trn in assets under management, remains optimistic.

The headline observation is that international business as it stands has been shattered because, Fink says, “the Russian invasion of  Ukraine has put an end to the globalisation we have experienced over the last three decades.”

He adds ominously: “The impact will reverberate for decades to come in ways we can’t yet predict.”

Russia, he observes, has been cut off from financial markets as sanctions hit but investors, including BlackRock, have taken action to clear their books of Russian assets. But there is a nod in Fink’s commentary to the lasting effect of the stakeholder governance debate.

“Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken to countless stakeholders, including our clients and employees, who are all looking to understand what could be done to prevent capital from being deployed to Russia.” He goes on: “This ‘economic war’ shows what we can achieve when companies, supported by their stakeholders, come together in the face of violence and aggression.”

Strategic challenges

Boards and company leaders may be concerned about more practical matters, and Fink has a warning about the strategic challenges that lay ahead.

Firstly supply chains. Companies, Fink says, will be looking at their dependencies on suppliers and in other jurisdictions, which may lead to “anchoring” or “nearshoring” of operations. Some countries will feel the effects as they lose business.
But adjusting supply chains will have repercussions. “This decoupling,” Fink writes,”will inevitably create challenges for companies, including higher costs and margin pressures.

“While companies’ and consumers’ balance sheets are strong today, giving them more of a cushion to weather these difficulties, a large-scale reorientation of supply chains will inherently be inflationary.”

So what among the many issue will money managers examine when it comes to assessing investments? Fink offers a hint of that too: resilience. Of course, the pandemic made resilience a lead agenda item for boards, but the war will intensify the focus. Resilience is, according to Fink, about more than withstanding a “sudden shock”.

“It also means understanding and addressing structural changes including what deglobalisation, inflation and the energy transition mean for companies, valuations and our clients’ portfolios,” he says.

Energy is one area where the BlackRock CEO retains some optimism. Yes, Fink says, weaning the west off Russian oil and gas may mean a short-term hunt for new sources of fossil fuels and, grimly, that will slow progress towards net zero. But: “Longer term, I believe that recent events will actually accelerate the shift toward greener sources of energy in many parts of the world.”

Without doubt many boards will have already begun the process of examining the impact of the war on their strategies. Many, however, will become caught in short-term measures. Fink’s letter reminds companies that there is a long-term game to play, and investors like BlackRock are keen to see how the players adapt.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail

Related Posts

  • BlackRock CEO letter: stakeholderism 'is not woke', it's capitalism
    January 20, 2022
    BlackRock offices in San Francisco

    Larry Fink declares stakeholder governance is not an "ideological agenda" but "capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships”.

  • PwC CEO survey reveals climate strategy challenges
    January 17, 2022
    CO2 emissions from factory chimneys

    Just 37% of CEOs surveyed said carbon emissions targets were included in their long-term corporate strategy.

  • Directors need to ‘up their game’ on ESG strategy
    April 4, 2022
    Board members looking at corporate reports

    Study says 70% of board directors say they are “not at all” or only “moderately“ effective at integrating ESG concerns into company strategy.

  • Listen up—and get a feel for future risk
    December 5, 2022
    future risk

    In a world rife with conflict, boards can develop valuable strategic opportunities from the geopolitical knowledge of their general managers.

Search


Follow Us

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts – Sign up here

 

Most Popular

Featured Resources

wef global risks 2025

The Global Risks Report 2025

The 20th edition of the Global Risks Report reveals an increasingly fractured global...
Supply chain management cover

Strategic Oversight in Supply Chain Management: A Guide for Corporate Boards 2025

Supply chains have become complex, interdependent and opaque and—according to research...
OB-Cyber-Security

Cyber Security: What Boards Need to Know

Maintaining firewalls, protecting servers and filtering malicious emails rarely make...

The IA’S Principles Of Remuneration 2024 2025

This guidance from the Investment Association is aimed at assisting remuneration...
Diligent 2024 leadership tech cover

Leadership, decision-making & the role of technology: Business survey 2024

This research report by Board Agenda and Diligent sheds light on how board directors...

Director Reference Guide: Navigating Conflict in the Boardroom

The 'Director Reference Guide' on navigating conflict in the boardroom provides practical...
Nasdaq 2024 governance report cover

Nasdaq 2024 Global Governance Pulse

This Nasdaq survey gathered data from more than 870 board members, executives, and...

Becoming a non-executive director (4th edition)

Board composition is the subject of much debate, while the role of the non-executive...
art & science brainloop new cover

The Art & Science of Creating an Effective Board

Boards are coming under more scrutiny and pressure than ever before from regulators,...
SAA First time NED guide

First Time Guide for Non-Executive Directors

The role of the non-executive director has never been more vital: to advise, support,...

Register Free

Stay in the know! Register to access the latest governance news; plus receive updates about our events and podcasts. Register


  • Editors & Contributors
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Board Advisory & Corporate Services
  • Media Marketing Solutions
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Board Director Network
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
|

Copyright © 2025 Questor Media Group Ltd.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap