Posted on 05/28/2023 4:15:20 PM PDT by Libloather
Anson Frericks is a co-founder of Strive Asset Management and a former Anheuser-Busch executive
Every day it seems that another iconic American brand has marched head-on into the furious buzzsaw of public controversy.
Last month, Bud Light's sponsorship of transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney sparked massive customer backlash.
Now, Target is the subject of boycotts after releasing a line of women's clothing intended to be worn by biological men with 'tuck-friendly construction' and 'extra crotch' room.
The companies saw their stock prices plummet and billions of dollars of value erased – almost overnight.
They're not alone. Nike, Calvin Klein, North Face and even the Los Angeles Dodgers have been criticized for wading into America's culture wars. What is going on? Why is it that companies that were once happy to sell clothes and beverages and nostalgia to Americans of all political stripes are now appearing to take sides in contentious political fights?
The answer is simple - follow the money.
As an executive at Anheuser-Busch for more than a decade, I witnessed how the calculus of running a major corporation has been hijacked.
It's why I left.
No longer is the pursuit of the almighty dollar – within the bounds of morality and the law – the sole purpose of so many of America's top companies. Today, the country's greatest enterprises have been repurposed into vehicles of social change.
Allow me to explain.
Target and Bud Light are publicly traded companies, which means that, ultimately, it's their investors – a.k.a. Wall Street – that's calling the shots.
Enter BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard, the three largest and most influential financial institutions in U.S. history. They're known as the 'Big Three' on Wall Street, though many Americans have never heard of them.
These three companies control more than $20 trillion in assets...
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Money?
MSFT
AAPL
GOOGL
XOM
Who the hell would invest in Target?
I’d like to see Trump and DeSantis speak to this - companies like Vanguard should be required by law to seek the best return on investment for their clients. They should not be allowed to use their clients’ money to push any political or social agenda. Will Trump or DeSantis do anything to push legislation requiring mutual fund companies to do what’s best for their investors?
Buyers of mutual funds and ETFs, whose managers make sector allocations that include retailers like Target. Direct buying by individuals may be limited, but these stocks are heavily traded.
Just keep boycotting all of these companies.
Vanguard index funds. I was lucky in that I had many self-directed choices including index funds for my 401k. I do feel for those with limited choices.
My advice to anybody is growth but with one caveat.
5+ years left to leave it alone.
Make sure those I listed are in your top 10.
If you are already taking RMD,s just leave it alone.
“BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard”
Like George Soros and Klaus Schwab, except they’re big financial institutions.
I’ve been wondering how they all went so crazy so fast ?
They just need to get enough ESG types in place and the company will go woke. The fund manager doesn't care how any individual stock performs. It's an index fund he gets paid to invest across an index at the lowest fee to the investor as possible. The strength of individual companies within that index is of no concern.
This is like Union dues where the leaders of the Union give money to politicians that many in the rank and file of the union don't like.
The voting rights should be given to the investors of the fund in proportion of their percentage investment in the overall fund. But that's an expense no one wants to pay for hence we have the situation we are in now.
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