A documentary illuminates the "sinister power" of Blackrock

Blackrock is the largest asset manager in the world.Reuters

• The documentary "Blackrock – The eerie power of a financial group" wants to draw a comprehensive picture of the largest asset manager in the world. The film will air on Arte this Tuesday.
• Director Tom Ockers has been working on the film for more than a year, highlighting Blackrock's influence on business and politics.
• In the eyes of the critics, Blackrock has too much money and too much power.
• More articles from Business Insider can be found here.

$ 6.8 trillion. So much money manages the investment adviser Blackrock. A sum that far exceeds Germany's annual gross domestic product of $ 3.7 trillion (3.34 trillion euros). Despite these dimensions, the company is almost unknown in Germany.

The new documentary "Blackrock – The eerie power of a financial concern" is dedicated to the silent giant. The research was "very tedious," says filmmaker Tom Ockers in conversation with Business Insider. "I have not experienced this in this form. Very often we have stood in front of closed doors. "Whether Blackrock in the US, France or Germany – no one from the company wanted to talk to him in front of the camera.

"Blackrock interferes with the everyday life of many people"

Ockers worked on the documentation for more than a year. He wanted to draw a comprehensive picture of Blackrock, putting together many pieces of the puzzle into one big whole. Because: "No one knows this company" – even though Blackrock manages more money than most banks. "Blackrock interferes with the daily lives of many people," says Ockers.

Blackrock became aware of the director and the broadcaster Arte, as the billionaire Carl Icahn 2015 called in an American television program Blackrock an "extremely dangerous company". The last impulse was the candidacy of Friedrich Merz for the CDU chairmanship last fall. Merz is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Blackrock Germany.

The financial adviser Blackrock is a winner of the financial crisis. One of its most important businesses is ETFs – mostly passively managed index funds in the stock market. Many small investors want to provide for the pension privately in the long stock market boom after the financial crisis and in times of low interest rates by means of ETFs. They are considered to be particularly cheap and low in risk.

Blackrock boss Larry Fink is well connected in the world of the rich and powerful

At Blackrock, the product is called iShares. In Germany, they control about 50 percent of the ETF market. In some countries, especially in the US, Blackrock plays a "significant role" in old-age insurance, the documentary reveals. In the eyes of the critics Blackrock has too much money and power. What if something goes wrong? Although Blackrock manages huge sums of money, unlike banks, there is hardly any strict oversight that controls the company.

"Of course, Blackrock helps many people make provisions for the pension," says film author Ockers. "But you have to be clear about the price. Blackrock has more power than any other company. If it crashes, it crashes properly. "

Where the rich and powerful are, Larry Fink is mostly there. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, at the UN, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or new ECB head Christine Lagarde – the founder and CEO of Blackrock is well connected. He is ranked number 28 on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world.

Fink started as an investment banker in New York. In 1988 he founded the company together with the investor Blackstone and later renamed Blackrock. He smashes criticism of his influence: "I do not control the markets, the world does that."

Larry Fink is founder and CEO of Blackrock.Reuters

Blackrock is a major shareholder in many corporations such as Apple, Microsoft, Facebook or Shell, but also at the 30 DAX companies in Germany. According to the documentary film, the financial concern is represented at around 17,000 annual general meetings. "At the annual general meetings, they can make clear what they want and what they do not want," says film author Ockers. This Blackrock influence ..influence on the management.

Blackrock's software decides "when and where in the world money will be invested"

The most important asset of Blackrock is information. The company's proprietary software, Aladdin, is exploiting a vast amount of data, such as social media or satellite imagery, the results of which the company uses for its own benefit. Access to the database is sold for a fee. So Aladdin decides "when and where in the world money will be invested".

According to the documentary, $ 18 trillion is to be managed by Blackrock's system. "In its size and consistency, the system is unique," says director Ockers. Aladdin was "untouchable at the moment".

Read also: Ranking: These are the 25 richest families in the world

The documentary also reveals discrepancies in Blackrock's social responsibility. Company boss Larry Fink likes to emphasize their importance in his public letters to large companies. On the other hand, the financial group also invests in defense companies such as Rheinmetall and in fossil fuels.

Another criticism of Blackrock is that the financial group invests in direct competitors ("common ownership"). The effect could lead to business leaders taking the competition less seriously and neglecting cost reductions – at least this is the thesis of finance scholar Martin Schmalz of the University of Oxford. This threatens competition and could, for example, cause airlines to make their tickets more expensive. Blackrock denies that.

Do we have to be afraid of Blackrock?

No matter how much Blackrock influences politics, one can not say after watching the movie. In the financial crisis, many countries and institutions resorted to Blackrock consultants to find bad loans in banks' books. The European Central Bank (ECB) also works with Blackrock, but soon wants to become more independent from external consultants.

That someone like Friedrich Merz of a company like Blackrock in the policy and back and forth, many interviewed experts in the film is not without problems. During his candidacy for the CDU chairmanship, Merz campaigned for a tax support of shares for private pension plans. Director Ockers cautiously calls it "a bit strange that Merz so clearly represents the position of his employer". At least it shows clearly that he is strongly arrested this company.

Read also: Study shows devastating errors of savers: You should not do it

According to Ockers' conviction, many people feel that a lot of money is controlled by very few people. This had an effect on protests like the yellow-vein movement in France. In response to calls for more control and restrictions for Blackrock, the company is reacting very aggressively. Meanwhile, Ockers considers their enforcement "almost impossible".

Do we have to be afraid of Blackrock, Mr. Ockers? "If I have to answer the question with yes or no, I would say yes," says the filmmaker. "You should always be afraid of a company that has so much power."

"Blackrock – the eerie power of a financial firm" will be broadcast on Arte this Tuesday at 20:15. The documentary will be available in the media library as of this Monday.

====================================================

From the past:

http://www.macleans.ca/politics/blackrock-liberal-canada-infrastructure/

BlackRock Inc., the planet’s largest asset manager, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are engaged in an intense courtship that has been swept into Canada’s political crossfire.

As details emerge about the depth of the relationship between the investors and the policy makers, opposition politicians suspect a conflict of interest as the federal Liberals promote their vaunted infrastructure bank and seek big money.

Political rivals from both the left and the right have been trying to frame BlackRock’s role in the process as evidence, they say, that the government’s new bank will put the priorities of wealthy investors ahead of Canadian taxpayers.

The arm’s-length infrastructure bank, a concept central to the Liberal economic growth strategy, is designed to use $35 billion in public dollars as leverage to attract billions more in private investment.

The New York-based company, which manages US$5.4 trillion in assets, describes itself as a firm that invests on behalf of a wide assortment of clients – from governments, to large institutions, to middle-income people saving for retirement.

Thoughts....The NDP have stated they have no interest in teaming up with the libs....if Wynne wants a chance of staying in power she should be about ready to announce her holistic plan for the ring.....the one Trudeau is waiting for patiently to bring in his 'partners'. 

=====================================================

A good Re-read from the past regarding the Bank of Canada Lawsuit.

https://agoracom.com/ir/Noront/forums/discussion/topics/677014-who-s-your-daddy/messages/2120562