BlackRock’s Jewell Bet on Green Stocks When No One Wanted Them

Betting on clean-energy stocks a month after President Donald Trump rolled back into the White House last year, championing his “drill, baby, drill” agenda, seemed like a fool’s errand.

For Helen Jewell, international chief investment officer for fundamental equities at BlackRock Inc., it was a prescient call that solidified her reputation as an astute contrarian.

Helen Jewell outside BlackRock’s office in London.

Photographer: Carlotta Cardana/Bloomberg

It was a hard sell for the CIO to her clients, who doubted the virtues of solar energy producers and wind power generators — and with good reason. Permitted projects were being iced, renewable subsidies slashed and federal funding redirected to fossil ...