The underlying theme of this Article is that the Big Three investment advisers to index funds (BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street) need to be understood as agents of those who invest in the mutual funds and exchange traded funds they manage. They are not institutional investors, the role...

The focus of this Article is on the agency costs that may be created by the empty voting of investment advisers to index funds and how they can be mitigated so as to protect the value of private employee pension benefit plans. This Article focuses on BlackRock because it has taken a leadership...