In this year's letter, the manager of $6 trillion doubled down on his argument that businesses have a responsibility to the communities they serve, not just to their bottom line, since "profits and purpose are inextricably linked." The 2019 letter, released the day after a fake hoodwinked some financial media , instructs companies to lead better in a divided world.
Governments globally are not sufficiently solving the world's problems, he notes, as "frustration with years of stagnant wages, the effect of technology on jobs, and uncertainty about the future have fueled popular anger, nationalism, and xenophobia. In response, some of the worlds leading democracies have descended into wrenching political dysfunction, which has exacerbated, rather than quelled, this public frustration."
As governments fail to address social and economic issues, the public increasingly looks to corporations for leadership on problems from protecting the environment to racial inequality. While Fink acknowledges companies cannot solve every issue, he can highlights a few dilemmas that require some corporate action, including retirement, infrastructure, and job preparation.
"Lack of preparedness for retirement is fueling enormous anxiety and fear, undermining productivity in the workplace and amplifying populism in the political sphere," Fink writes.
Fink highlights that aiding workers in navigating retirement preparation is not only a social good; he argues that it also helps create a more engaged workforce and a more economically secure population.
"Companies that fulfill their purpose and responsibilities to stakeholders reap rewards over the long-term. Companies that ignore them stumble and fail. This dynamic is becoming increasingly apparent as the public holds companies to more exacting standards. And it will continue to accelerate as millennials who today represent 35 percent of the workforce express new expectations of the companies they work for, buy from , and invest in .
I remain optimistic about the worlds future and the prospects for investors and companies taking a long-term approach... At a time of great political and economic disruption, your leadership is indispensable."