(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) One of the nation’s top investment companies, Vanguard Group, claims that it will no longer be a part of a woke Envoronmental, Social, and Governmental-oriented financial alliance, Legal Insurrection reported.
Among the activist causes it helps fund, ESG investing frequently supports companies that reject fossil fuels in order to secure government grants on behalf of climate change.
Such investing divorces investing from profit-seeking, instead attaching it to what the state deems as socially responsible behavior.
The particular ESG that the Vanguard Group left, Net Zero Asset Managers, is one of the greatest opponents of fossil fuels in the entire nation.
“We have decided to withdraw from NZAM so that we can provide the clarity our investors desire about the role of index funds and about how we think about material risks, including climate-related risks—and to make clear that Vanguard speaks independently on matters of importance to our investors,” said a post on the company’s website, which has been updated to reflect the new policy.
Vangard said it underwent an extensive review period before making the bold choice to focus on profits instead of virtue-signaling.
“This decision is part of our continuous assessment of our participation in external organizations and their ongoing alignment with Vanguard’s mission and perspectives on investing,” it said.
“For some investors, owning certain companies is not consistent with their values or preferences, which is why we offer passively managed environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds that are screened for certain ESG criteria,” it added.
Though its not clear yet to what degree the U.S. economy will be affected by the decision, the Vanguard Group is one of the “Big Three” investment firms alongside BlackRock and State Street, which combined hold about 25% of the votes for every S&P 500 company.
One can assume, therefore, that the effects will be substantial.
The ESG industry has grown up in the wake of massive government spending for “renewable energy.” In fact, since the industry is so propped up by the state, investment companies tend to see ESGs as good investments, because they will get bailed out if anything ever goes wrong.
The famously private Vanguard Group executives did not make any comment on the matter.
