BlackRock says a quarter of institutional clients sign on for proxy voting program

BlackRock Inc.
BLK,
+3.18%
said Monday that clients representing 25% or about $530 billion of its $2.3 trillion in eligible index equity assets have agreed to take part in its BlackRock Voting Choice, a proxy voting capability that allows institutional investors and their clients to tailor their preferences in annual shareholder balloting. BlackRock said 47% of index equity assets are now eligible for VotingChoice. It’s also extending the range of institutional pooled funds offering BlackRock Voting Choice to more funds in the U.K. It’s also offering the program to clients in Canada and Ireland for the first time. “The expansion of the program reflects BlackRock’s commitment to democratize participation in the financial markets by providing clients the industry’s broadest range of choice to help them meet their investment objectives with the freedom to choose how their votes are cast,” the firm said. BlackRock said it published a white paper that lays out its effort to expanding VotingChoice to all investors, including individual investors in funds. Shares of BlackRock are down 32.5% so far in 2022, compared to a loss of 18.2% by the S&P 500
SPX,
+1.73%.