BlackRock Investment Stewardship: Analyst

About this role

BlackRock Investment Stewardship: Industrials and/or Health Care Sector (Analyst Level)

About our team:

• Investment stewardship is one way BlackRock fulfills our fiduciary responsibilities as an asset manager to our clients. BlackRock Investment Stewardship serves as a link between our clients and the companies they invest in.
• We take a long-term approach to stewardship, focused on engaging with company boards and executive leadership to understand the drivers of risk and financial value creation in companies’ business models.
• Our sole focus when we engage with companies or vote at shareholder meetings is to advance our clients’ financial interests. As part of our fiduciary duty to our clients, we consider it one of our responsibilities to promote sound corporate governance as an informed, engaged shareholder on their behalf.
• The BIS team of 65+ dedicated professionals bring diverse skills and life experiences to our work, with professional expertise developed in legal, financial, advisory, consulting, technology, corporate, and governance roles. We operate in ten offices across three regions – the Americas (New York, Wilmington, and San Francisco), EMEA (London) and Asia-Pacific (Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney). Analysts on the Americas team are based in BlackRock’s New York office.
• BIS is proud of our global reach and local presence.

About the position:

The BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) Professional will primarily assist one of the lead proxy voting analysts covering certain companies in the Industrials and/or Health Care sectors. They will provide support on portfolio company analysis, engagement, and voting. The intention is for the person in this role to ultimately specialize in a subset of the companies in a given sector, along with various aspects of relevant policy, to support the delivery of our annual and long-term objectives. They will report to a lead sector analyst on the BIS team.

Key responsibilities at the Analyst level include:

• Learning and applying BIS engagement priorities, proxy voting policies, and key industry initiatives that have impact on BIS principles.
• Supporting data gathering, benchmarking, and reporting to support voting decisions and policy positions.
• Working with lead sector analyst(s) to implement BIS’ corporate governance policies.
• Preparing for, leading (as needed), and documenting engagement meetings with portfolio companies.
• Demonstrating expertise on sector dynamics, including key measures of economic performance, financial resilience, corporate strategy, corporate governance and material sustainability-related practices within the Industrials and/or Health Care sectors.
• Assisting in preparing position papers to facilitate issue discussion with broader BlackRock audiences.
• Collaborating across the team to identify ways to improve policy and business processes.

The tasks involved in fulfilling these responsibilities include:

• Preparing for engagement with senior representatives of portfolio companies, including crafting memos in preparation for meetings highlighting key data that will be useful in our engagement and stewardship efforts.
• Analyzing and benchmarking financial and operational performance as well as governance and sustainability disclosure of portfolio companies.
• Attending, documenting and leading (as needed) engagement efforts, including recording research notes to be stored and shared with select audiences across BlackRock.
• Monitoring legal, regulatory, or other market developments to improve the relevance of BlackRock’s principles and guidelines.
• Participating in benchmarking analysis and modeling to contribute to leading engagement and voting practices.
• Monitoring of proxy voting workflow, to ensure all accounts are voted as intended and are in accordance with the appropriate guidelines.
• Supporting the development of BIS position papers and reporting.
• Analyzing companies’ shareholder meeting agendas and related materials in order to vote in the manner most consistent with BlackRock’s proxy voting policies and fiduciary responsibilities.
• Collaborating with client-facing and communications colleagues to ensure client reporting and client presentations meet expectations, and that client queries on stewardship activities are responded to promptly and to the client’s expectations.
• Reviewing the BIS team’s output and working practices to ensure risks are minimized and performance optimized.

Desired qualifications include:

• An undergraduate degree in finance, economics, accounting, political science, sustainability or other relevant field.
• Generalists (with at least 2 years of work experience) are encouraged to apply, although candidates with experience in covering the U.S. Industrials or Health Care sectors will be preferred.
• A strong understanding of financial statements, the key drivers of shareholder return and corporate finance.
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills demonstrated through prior relevant experience.
• A keen interest in corporate governance and material sustainable business practices, ideally in relation to the Industrials and/or Health Care sectors.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information and convey it in a clear and concise manner to senior-level audiences.
• A diligent, focused, and persistent work ethic to implement while leading multiple tasks and changing priorities.
• The ability to prioritize, analyze, and resolve complex issues under time pressure while maintaining consistent attention to detail.
• An organized, self-reliant, and self-motivated approach to responsibilities.
• Collaborative working style, and strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to build and maintain successful relationships with colleagues across the firm and with external parties.
• Proficiency in using Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft products.

For New York, NY Only the salary range for this position is USD$85,500.00 - USD$105,000.00 . Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, and benefits including healthcare, leave benefits, and retirement benefits. BlackRock operates a pay-for-performance compensation philosophy and your total compensation may vary based on role, location, and firm, department and individual performance.

Our benefits
To help you stay energized, engaged and inspired, we offer a wide range of benefits including a strong retirement plan, tuition reimbursement, comprehensive healthcare, support for working parents and Flexible Time Off (FTO) so you can relax, recharge and be there for the people you care about.

Our hybrid work model

BlackRock’s hybrid work model is designed to enable a culture of collaboration and apprenticeship that enriches the experience of our employees, while supporting flexibility for all. Employees are currently required to work at least 4 days in the office per week, with the flexibility to work from home 1 day a week. Some business groups may require more time in the office due to their roles and responsibilities. We remain focused on increasing the impactful moments that arise when we work together in person – aligned with our commitment to performance and innovation. As a new joiner, you can count on this hybrid model to accelerate your learning and onboarding experience here at BlackRock.

About BlackRock

At BlackRock, we are all connected by one mission: to help more and more people experience financial well-being.  Our clients, and the people they serve, are saving for retirement, paying for their children’s educations, buying homes and starting businesses. Their investments also help to strengthen the global economy: support businesses small and large; finance infrastructure projects that connect and power cities; and facilitate innovations that drive progress.

This mission would not be possible without our smartest investment – the one we make in our employees. It’s why we’re dedicated to creating an environment where our colleagues feel welcomed, valued and supported with networks, benefits and development opportunities to help them thrive.

For additional information on BlackRock, please visit @blackrock | Twitter: @blackrock | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock

BlackRock is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity to all applicants and existing employees, and we evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, creed, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity/expression), sexual orientation, age, ancestry, physical or mental disability, marital status, political affiliation, religion, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran status, or any other basis protected under applicable federal, state, or local law. View the EEOC’s Know Your Rights poster and its supplement and the pay transparency statement.

 

BlackRock is committed to full inclusion of all qualified individuals and to providing reasonable accommodations or job modifications for individuals with disabilities. If reasonable accommodation/adjustments are needed throughout the employment process, please email [email protected]. All requests are treated in line with our privacy policy.

BlackRock will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in a manner consistent with the requirements of the law, including any applicable fair chance law.