BlackRock’s Larry Fink says the US election ‘really doesn’t matter’ for markets

BlackRock’s Larry Fink says the US election ‘really doesn’t matter’ for markets.

Larry Fink doesn’t think the US election will affect markets much.

The BlackRock CEO doubled down on saying the outcome of the US election, which will be decided in two weeks, won’t matter in the long run.

“I’m tired of hearing this is the biggest election in your lifetime,” Fink told a conference hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association on Monday, in remarks reported by The Financial Times.

“The reality is over time, it doesn’t matter,” he added.

He said that BlackRock works with both administrations and is “having conversations” with both Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Fink reiterated his comments from an interview earlier this month, when he said that US elections rarely make a big impact on markets.

Ties to both candidates

BlackRock, which manages $11.5 trillion in assets via passive and active strategies, has ties and conflicts to both parties.

Trump has invested in BlackRock funds, campaign finance forms showed.

Since winning the last election in 2020, President Joe Biden has stocked his administration with BlackRock alumni, including Adewale Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, and Mike Pyle, Vice President Harris’ chief economic advisor. Both previously worked in the Obama administration.

The firm has also come under fire from both sides of the aisle.

Republicans have repeatedly accused BlackRock of “woke investing,” a term they used to describe the company’s environmental, social, and governance-focused investment strategies. ESG is a broadly-used term among most global investors.

In July, House Republicans began an investigation into ESG investing. The committee has subpoenaed BlackRock and other investors as it seeks information on what it calls “collusive agreements to promote and adopt left-wing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.” In 2023, Fink said he was ditching the use of the acronym because of how “weaponized” and political it had become.

Last year, a bipartisan House committee began looking into BlackRock’s investments in China, for their stakes in Chinese companies blacklisted over claims of supporting China’s military or alleged human rights abuses.

Divided Wall Street

Fink is not the only Wall Street heavyweight saying the election won’t matter to financial markets.

In an interview in May, Mike Gitlin, CEO of the $2.7 trillion investing giant Capital Group, said that over the long term, markets climb higher regardless of who wins, and he doesn’t agree with rebalancing a portfolio because of election outcomes.

But many investors continue to monitor the election closely.

In a survey of 400 institutional investors released by asset manager PGIM last week, most investors surveyed agreed that elections influenced how they allocated funds in their portfolios.

The institutional managers flagged national debt, economic growth, and immigration reform as their three biggest election concerns.