A former BlackRock executive has accused chief executive Larry Fink of “ducking the fight” over ESG, following claims that the US asset manager and other fund industry behemoths are misleading investors over sustainable investing.

Tariq Fancy, who was chief investment officer for sustainable investing at BlackRock between 2018 and 2019, published an explosive three-part essay last month via online publishing platform Medium, in which he likened the booming sustainable investment sector to “selling the public a wheatgrass placebo as a solution to the onset of cancer.”