BlackRock's Fink asks top CEOs to reveal plans for spending cash flow from tax overhaul

BlackRock Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink is asking leaders of the world's biggest companies to say how they'll spend extra cash from the U.S. tax overhaul. "What will you do with increased after-tax cash flow, and how will you use it to create long-term value?," Fink said in his annual letter to CEOs, posted on the firm's website Tuesday. Companies have a responsibility to explain to shareholders how "major legislative and regulatory changes" will impact their longterm growth strategies, Fink said. Companies including BlackRock are expected to benefit from changes in the U.S. tax plan. The world's largest asset manager will see its effective tax rate fall to 23 percent from about 31 percent. BlackRock plans to use money from the tax break potentially for share buybacks and to pay out dividends, the firm told shareholders on a Jan. 12 earnings call. The company also said on the call that it would look at possible future investment opportunities, such as more aggressively seeding or co-investing in new products, as a result of the tax reform. Over the years, Fink has pushed companies to explain their strategies for future growth. In the letter this week, he said that businesses should understand how structural trends, including slow wage growth and climate change, could impact their potential to expand over time. BlackRock, which surpassed $6 trillion in assets in the fourth quarter of 2017, continues to see its influence increase with the rise of passive investing. Fink said in the letter that BlackRock plans to double the size of its investment stewardship team over the next three years. He also named Barbara Novick, vice chairman and co-founder of BlackRock, to oversee the firm's investment stewardship efforts. The New York Times reported earlier Tuesday on Fink's letter encouraging companies to contribute to society.