Is Your Financial Advisor Hiding the Truth About ESG?

May 13, 2022 By E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

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Is your financial planner, advisor, wealth manager, CPA, CFA, CFP, or whatever else they slap onto their business card on the same page as you? Are you all rowing in the same direction? Have you asked them about ESG, for example? Do they ask you? Because if you don’t know, it’s probably time you do. This is no time to be politically correct when it’s your money on the line.

You know where Your Survival Guy stands on ESG. I hate it. And yet, in my conversations with you, a prospective client, you told me you asked your “guy” about ESG the other day, and you didn’t get a straight answer, as if he was probing to see where you stand. Another prospective client told me that he asked his rep at a major firm about ESG, and they told him they’re “not political.” As in, they were going to sell ESG funds whether customers agreed with them or not. Well, if you’re buying the crap they’re selling, they most certainly are political.

Here’s the deal. The financial services business works day and night to engineer new ways to take your money and line their pockets. That’s the main driver behind ESG—to charge you higher fees. Think about it for a minute. Commissions are now zero dollars. That game is over. And “passive” indexing is right there too. Almost free to the investor. Why do you think they’re pushing ESG? It’s one of the few places they still make any money. But that’s not even the worst part.

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When you invest in their ESG funds, index funds, or ETFs, you may not have a choice other than to go along with their politics. Most of the time, they get to vote your shares without your input. And they’re using that power to force the world’s largest corporations to pursue the progressive agenda, not shareholder return. In other words, they’re putting their politics to work with your money.

Action Line: Did your financial advisor tell you any of that when he recommended that ESG fund? Probably not. If you’re tired of other people using your money to vote for their ESG politics, maybe it’s time for a change. The easiest solution is for you to own stocks and vote your shares the way you want to vote them. Our clients have full control over their shares. Sound appealing? If so, let’s talk.

Do you remember when you were working and just happy to be doing your craft?

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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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