Sir Chris Hohn says fund giants acting like sheep on climate

Hedge fund manager Sir Chris Hohn has slammed investment giants for acting ‘like sheep’ on climate change. 

Hohn, whose firm TCI Fund Management invests around £23billion on behalf of clients, has written to seven of the world’s biggest asset managers urging them to step up their efforts to force companies to become more environmentally friendly. 

In the letter, sent through his charity the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Hohn accused ‘most asset managers’ of ‘total greenwash’. It was a pointed attack on firms which have recently declared their commitment to cutting carbon emissions, such as Blackrock and Vanguard. 

But Hohn told the Financial Times: ‘The asset management industry is a joke in respect to what they are actually doing [around climate change]. They talk but they don’t actually do anything effective. Asset managers are sheep.’ 

Vanguard said it ‘cares deeply about the long-term impact of climate change’. Blackrock said it has begun voting against directors over climate concerns. 

• Rolls-Royce is poised to temporarily shut factories, slash working hours and axe benefits in the face of collapsing demand for aircraft during the pandemic, staff have been warned. It will not involve more job cuts on top of 9,000 already announced earlier this year, but could see management costs cut by one third, a spokesman said.