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ESG Money Managers Are Feeling the Heat

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By Profit_Image @ Shutterstock.com

You may be wondering if relatively small measures like GOP states pulling their pension funds from BlackRock can make a difference when the company’s business dwarfs any withdrawals. Despite the small relative size of withdrawals by states like Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and West Virginia, CEOs of ESG-pushing money management firms like BlackRock’s Larry Fink are paying attention. Fink is distressed that investors don’t want their money used to push his personal agenda. Ben Zeisloft reports for the Daily Wire:

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink denounced criticism of the ESG movement and expressed skepticism toward supply chain resiliency efforts at the World Economic Forum.

During an interview on Tuesday in Davos, Switzerland, the asset management company executive remarked that disputes concerning environmental, social, and corporate governance investing have created significant controversy.

“I’m taking this very seriously,” he told Bloomberg News. “We are trying to address the misconceptions. It’s hard because it’s not business anymore, they’re doing it in a personal way. And for the first time in my professional career, attacks are now personal. They’re trying to demonize the issues.”

The reference to critics’ attempts to “demonize” the ESG movement comes days after Elon Musk quipped on social media that “the S in ESG stands for Satanic.” The billionaire entrepreneur formerly called the philosophy a “scam” that has been “weaponized by phony social justice warriors.”

Fink traveled to Switzerland for the conference days after his company announced plans to dismiss hundreds of employees following a $1.5 trillion loss in assets over the past year. BlackRock has witnessed extensive criticism from opponents of the ESG movement who argue that the investment philosophy compromises profit maximization for left-wing causes such as climate change and racial equity.

“Let’s be clear, the narrative is ugly, the narrative is creating this huge polarization,” Fink continued. “We are doing everything we can to change the narrative.”

Notice that rather than changing his approach, Fink is trying to “change the narrative.” That means he wants to keep doing what he’s doing with investors’ funds, but he doesn’t want anyone to talk about it anymore. Good luck with that.

Action Line: Don’t let an index fund manager vote your shares for causes you don’t want to support. Instead, own a portfolio of individual stocks and bonds, and retain the power to vote your shares yourself. If you need help building an investment portfolio that eschews ESG index funds, let’s talk. Until then, click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, where I talk about all the things woke CEOs would rather avoid.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

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