Larry Fink’s efforts to get companies to adopt climate-friendly policies have led some to call him an activist. The BlackRock chairman and chief executive prefers a different label: capitalist.

In his annual letter to the CEOs of the companies in which BlackRock invests, Fink said businesses that don’t plan for a carbon-free future risk being left behind. The quest for long-term returns, and not politics, is what animates the money manager’s efforts, he wrote.