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...]
Congress Rebukes Biden’s ESG Push
Your Survival Guy's been fighting ESG from the beginning. Stick with me. Anti-Carbon Crusaders in Davos Talk ESG and OPM Political Establishment Irate over Conservative Challenges to ESG ESG, Richard Young, Jack Bogle, and You Florida Dumps BlackRock in Fight Against ESG ELON MUSK: “ESG Is the Devil” Regulators Investigating ESG Funds for “Greenwashing” 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? DeSantis: Standing Up … [Read more...]
DeSantis: Standing Up to Corporate Activism
Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, has taken to the pages of The Wall Street Journal's editorial section to explain why he fought back against Disney's corporate activism by stripping the company of its special treatment under the law. He writes: On Monday, I signed the law ending the Walt Disney Co.’s self-governing status over 43 square miles in central Florida, an area almost as big as Miami. Disney no longer has its own government. It has to live under the same laws as Universal Studios, SeaWorld and every other company in our state and is still on the hook for the old district’s … [Read more...]
DeSantis: ESG “Dead on Arrival in Florida”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has warned fund companies that ESG investing is "dead on arrival" in Florida. Watch the governor explain Florida's position on ESG: ESG is a threat to the American economy and the individual freedoms that our country is built upon. It is dead on arrival in Florida. pic.twitter.com/ZqrdklbUvW — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 13, 2023 You know Your Survival Guy wants you to avoid ESG, and to avoid governors and financial professionals who would use your money to pursue their political aims. Read more about ESG here: Anti-Carbon Crusaders in … [Read more...]
Biden Administration Destroying Retiree Fiduciary Protections
The Biden administration is undermining fiduciary protections created by the Trump administration to protect retirees from money managers who would use their wealth to push the radical progressive agenda rather than to secure the savers' retirements. Now, 25 state attorneys general are suing to stop the Biden administration. Keith Griffith reports for the Daily Mail: The Republican attorneys general from 25 US states have filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's plan to allow retirement fund managers to make 'socially conscious' investment decisions. The federal suit filed on … [Read more...]
ESG, Richard Young, Jack Bogle, and You
Vanguard, one of America's largest mutual fund companies, is, according to Will Hild in The Wall Street Journal, violating an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by meddling in the affairs of regulated utilities with its ESG policies. Hild writes: Americans are paying sky-high electricity rates and companies like Vanguard are making the problem worse. This week my organization, Consumers’ Research, joined 13 state attorneys general in a complaint against Vanguard at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. With more than $7 trillion in assets under management, … [Read more...]
Florida Dumps BlackRock in Fight Against ESG
You have watched state after state push back on ESG investing as money managers use their power over the funds to pursue increasingly political ends. Florida has now joined others in pulling money out of funds at BlackRock, the money manager best known for doggedly pursuing its green agenda using ESG fund power. Angel Au-Yeung reports for The Wall Street Journal: The backlash continues for BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis announced Thursday that the state’s treasury would begin pulling out $2 billion of assets that are currently … [Read more...]
ELON MUSK: “ESG Is the Devil”
You have been reading a lot in the news about Elon Musk lately. His leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter make him perhaps the most famous billionaire on earth. You would think that Musk's most famous company, Tesla, which builds electric cars, would be a darling of environmentally focused investors, especially those pushing the "environmental, social, governance" (ESG) indices. Instead, Tesla has found itself being tossed from ESG funds, coincidentally as Musk has become more vocal in his criticisms of the left wing of American politics. Over the weekend, Musk responded to a tweet … [Read more...]
Private Equity Burns State Pension Fund with FTX Investment
You have read for years that Your Survival Guy is worried about the risky bets being made by state pension fund managers who, after politicians overpromise and under-fund for state employee retirements, are left chasing performance to fill in the gaps. One way states have attempted to juice performance in pension funds is by allowing them to invest in private equity. The problem is that these investments are often riskier than what's available on public markets and don't always turn out well. Missouri is the latest state to find out that riskier investments in private equity can come back and … [Read more...]
Regulators Investigating ESG Funds for “Greenwashing”
You have had a front-row seat on YourSurvivalGuy.com to the ESG investing trend, where you invest, and they win. Now, after years of money managers rebranding their high-fee funds as "ESG" to get in on the action, regulators are beginning to step in and investigate. Frances Schwartzkopff reports in Bloomberg: Asset managers have dramatically reduced the number of new ESG funds they’re rolling out, as a tougher regulatory environment makes it harder to make claims of environmental, social and governance investing. Reclassifications that add an ESG element to conventional funds are down 84% … [Read more...]