ARTICLE UPDATED WITH CORRECTIONS:
Blackrock has become a behemoth, with nearly US$4 trillion under management. It has been called by one University of Michigan study as the single largest shareholder in the country, with interests in one of every four American corporations in operation today.
The firm manages money from pension funds to endowments to retail investors and even large companies such as JP Morgan Chase, Wal-Mart and Chevron. What is also astounding is that it owns about 5% of 40% of all the publicly traded companies in the United States.
This provides great influence to BlackRock, especially during proxy season. During this time, companies hold annual shareholders' meetings and shareholders would vote on issues and policies ranging from executive pay to the election of the corporate board of directors.
The basic unit of the firm is its analyst groups, with its own language and their meetings bear fruit as to the position to be taken and decision to be made at the top. BlackRock is not an activist investor, never sponsored a proposal or never makes announcements of its position. It keeps a low profile and does much of the work on the down low, making it safe, secure and reliable decisions in the long run.
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