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...]
THE UNWOKENING: Corporate Executives Signal Big Step Back on ESG
Two surveys of corporate executives signal that the era of unquestioning corporate obedience to ESG goals may be over. The 2022 KPMG CEO Outlook survey found that 59% of CEOs plan to "pause or reconsider their organization's ESG efforts in the next six months." Paul Bergeron reports for Globest.com: As CEOs in the US prepare for a recession that a majority believe will not be mild and short, the newly-released 2022 KPMG CEO Outlook found that in an uncertain economic environment, they are adjusting their business strategies around ESG. They are committed to investing in transformational … [Read more...]
Louisiana Joins West Virginia, Texas in Targeting BlackRock’s ESG Activism
The Treasurer of Louisiana, John Schroder, has announced that his state will divest all its assets managed by BlackRock because of the money manager's anti-fossil fuel policies. Once complete, Louisiana will have removed nearly $800 million from BlackRock funds and accounts. Louisiana's actions join other states, including West Virginia and Texas in an attempt to stop the harm BlackRock and other firms are doing to their vital industries. The Daily Caller's Sarah Weaver reports: Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder announced his state will divest funds from the multi-trillion dollar … [Read more...]
EXPOSED: ESG’s Biggest Con Explained
You've been told that ESG is in the best interests of investors. And you've probably heard that ESG managers are just doing their fiduciary duty to investors. At Real Clear Markets, Scott Shepard exposes the lie in both those theories. He writes: Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not “woke.” It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is the power of capitalism. As has been discussed before in this space, … [Read more...]
The Anti-ESG Movement Has Begun
You have read here, here, here, and elsewhere from Your Survival Guy about the dangers posed by ESG investing. Now a movement of investors is working hard to push back against it. An initiative fostered by the Job Creators Network Foundation, the Free Enterprise Project, and Second Vote, has created The Boardroom Initiative "to defend shareholders, employees, and communities from “woke” policies at corporations and ensure corporate accountability." In a press release they explain: By increasingly wading into the culture wars, companies threaten shareholder returns and retirement security for … [Read more...]
Arrogant ESG Strategies Exposed by War in Ukraine
Your Survival Guy’s been ranting and raving ad nauseam lately about the pitfalls of ESG investing where you invest, and they win. You know from my past posts that it’s basically a fee grab designed to line the pockets of investment firms. At the core of green energy and the Great Reset are money and power. They control the pieces and the money. If we let them. And that’s where being vigilant about how you invest and with whom you invest becomes paramount. When you simply ask, “What’s in it for them?” in rolls the fog. Follow the money. Solar panels and heat pumps will not be the … [Read more...]
ILLEGAL? ESG Is Strangling Oil Exploration, and May Break the Law
You know that the so-called "Masters of the Universe" at Wall Street's big money managers have taken it upon themselves to use their influence over investors' money to push their own political agenda on markets. In other words, you invest, and they win. That agenda has been pursued via an investing philosophy known as Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing. A particular target for ESG investing has been oil and gas companies, which have found it very difficult to raise capital in the face of an investment industry that has become hostile to their efforts. The capital … [Read more...]
BELICHICK BREAKDOWN: What Makes New England Patriots Coach So Good?
This is why Patriots coach Bill Belichick is so good. At Barstool Sports, Jerry Thornton analyzes Belichik's philosophy on sacks, writing: What's more important for a defense, sacks or pressure? BB breaks it down. pic.twitter.com/APDhAUZkn1 — New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 10, 2021 You think you've been following a guy long enough that you understand how he thinks. And in Bill Belichick's case, I do. More or less. But when there are so many gigabytes stored in his vast mental database and his algorithm doesn't reveal more than a few bytes at a time, he can still … [Read more...]