A number of European insurers are fleeing the Net Zero Insurance Alliance, which pushes firms to use their financial muscle to enforce the E—environmental—activism of the ESG trifecta. Two French firms, AXA and SCOR, along with Allianz from Germany, have decided to leave the UN-backed group focused on pushing the climate change agenda. Reuters reports: A United Nations-convened climate alliance for insurers suffered at least three more departures on Thursday including the group's chair, as insurance companies take fright in the face of opposition from U.S. Republican politicians. At least … [Read more...]
The ESG Cartel
In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall exposes the behavior of big financial institutions that have created what could be described as an ESG cartel. He writes: Proponents of ESG—environmental, social and governance—investing are posing as champions of the free market. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and I testified earlier this month before the House Oversight Committee regarding our continuing investigations into several global financial alliances that aim to impose ESG policies on American businesses and consumers in defiance of our … [Read more...]
The Grades Are In: Schwab Scores a D
You have been reading here that ESG managers are using investor money to pursue their own political goals. They do that by stripping investors of the rights to control the voting on their own shares. This isn't only done with ESG funds though, many index funds are setup to give money managers the voting power. And even with funds that aren't earmarked for ESG strategies, managers are pursuing proxy votes that prioritize political agendas over shareholder value. The Wall Street Journal's editorial board reports: If Americans want to make investment decisions using environmental, social and … [Read more...]
Pushback Against ESG Is Working
Your Survival Guy has been talking about the dangers of ESG to investors for years now, and slowly investors and politicians have been catching on. In Florida, Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia, and more, politicians are fighting back against ESG. But it's not only elected officials who are tired of ESG; it's corporate board members too. But the most powerful constituency of all pushing back against ESG are the shareholders themselves. Axios's Emily Peck explains the number of anti-ESG shareholder proposals is rising rapidly. Companies don't want to talk about their environmental, social and … [Read more...]
Republicans Sue to Block BlackRock ESG Plans
You know Your Survival Guy is concerned by BlackRock's ESG push. It's not great when you invest, and they win, using the voting power you bought with your money to push their agenda. Now GOP Attorneys General from 17 states are pushing back against BlackRock's ability to influence policies at utility companies. Eric Revell reports on Fox Business: A group of Republican attorneys general filed a motion Wednesday with a federal regulator to block BlackRock from imposing its environmental, social and governmental (ESG) policies on utility companies. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset … [Read more...]
DeSantis Signs Anti-ESG Legislation
Your Survival Guy doesn’t like the fact that pensions for retired teachers, firefighters, police officers, etc. are used to fight the ESG movement. Using other people’s money (OPM) when they don’t get a vote is not cool. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in Florida today to push back on the use of ESG in the state. DeSantis's office released this: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed comprehensive legislation to protect Floridians from the corporatist environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) movement — a worldwide effort to inject woke political ideology across … [Read more...]
Is Vanguard Voting Against Your Political Beliefs?
You’re not supposed to talk about religion or politics in the investment business. Your Survival Guy broke that rule on day one. I’ve always felt it’s important to know who you’re dealing with. The big firms try to play it right down the middle. They try to please everyone and no one at the same time. They don’t talk politics. Until now. And not on purpose. Let me explain. When the mutual fund industry rode index fees down to zero, they became victims of their own success. Suddenly, they needed a new way to skin the cat. Imagine the conference room discussions. “Bob, we need to get … [Read more...]
DEMOCRATIC SENATOR: Biden’s ESG Veto “Absolutely Infuriating”
After both the House and a bipartisan group in the Senate passed a bill to strike down Joe Biden's executive order encouraging the use of ESG in retirement accounts, Biden used his first veto to kill it. The veto angered Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who called the veto "absolutely infuriating." Al Weaver reports in The Hill: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) teed off on President Biden’s decision earlier on Monday to veto a bill that would have nixed a Labor Department rule on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. Manchin, who was one of two Senate Democrats to … [Read more...]
ESG: Are Markets Ready for “A Needed Dose of Reality?”
You have been reading for years here on YourSurvivalGuy.com about the dangers of ESG investing. Here's a small sample of what Your Survival Guy has been telling you about ESG investing and its proponents: You Invest, They Win: ESG Is a Money Grab The Woke ESG Investing Money Grab is Falling Apart Your Survival Guy Never Buys ESG Funds Ever EXPOSED: ESG’s Biggest Con Explained Is Your Financial Advisor Hiding the Truth About ESG? ELON MUSK: “ESG Is the Devil” ESG, Richard Young, Jack Bogle, and You ESG Money Managers Are Feeling the Heat ESG Is Another Way to Attack … [Read more...]
Was Silicon Valley Bank a Victim of ESG?
You know that markets need a dose of reality when it comes to ESG investing. But was Silicon Valley Bank brought down by ESG? That's the question Kimberley Strassel asks in The Wall Street Journal. She writes: While the main reason SVB failed was its decision to buy bonds at the top of the market (it got hit when it had to sell), it had also in the past few years further stretched itself by sizably increasing its loans and lines of credit to subprime firms. How much of that would have happened if not for the Biden pot of gold at the end of the green-tech rainbow? A Washington Post story … [Read more...]