Posted on 01/27/2025 6:01:30 AM PST by MtnClimber
"Sustainability" investments became popular a few years back.
So-called experts said companies shouldn't just focus on profit. They should put more effort into being "nice."
Funds pushing ESG (environmental, social and governance) were all the rage.
Giant investment firms like BlackRock pressured companies to hire more women and minorities. CEO Larry Fink announced, "All investments are going to be looked through sustainability."
But "sustainability" is a mostly meaningless word.
Parnassus claimed it helped meet UN sustainability goals of "nutrition" and "sanitation" by investing in U.S. Foods and Clorox.
Starbucks phased out plastic straws while adding lids that used more plastic.
BP rebranded itself as "Beyond Petroleum." Wisely, it mostly invested in petroleum.
Former Vice President Al Gore made money peddling climate change hysteria. He created "sustainability investment funds," claiming "sustainability factors ... actually enhance returns!"
His funds did enhance Gore's own returns; he made millions. But over the past three years, his "sustainable" fund underperformed the stock market. Recently the fund managers admitted they "made investment mistakes."
Most funds promoting "sustainable investment" did worse than the market.
So, why did trillions of dollars pour into such funds?
"Because of pressures," says Matt Cole, CEO of Strive Investments, in my new video. "Their largest clients are blue states' pension (funds) like CalPERS and the New York pension (fund) who put pressure on them: 'Adopt these agendas or you're going to lose us as your largest customer!'"
CalPERS still brags about "mitigating climate risk" and adding "climate-conscious board members" to Exxon's board.
Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry pompously bullied banks: "They will invest into climate-related efforts," he intoned.
Today, banks and even Blackrock are running from sustainability nonsense.
"What you're seeing," says Cole, "is ESG funds shuttering at record speed ... and they're not apologizing."
Progressives never do.
This fad didn't just hurt investors; it hurt companies that America needs.
America needs high-performance computer chips. Intel was once the leading manufacturer of such chips. But now, even as Congress gives Intel billions in taxpayer handouts, the company is cutting thousands of jobs.
Why? While Intel's competitors innovated, Intel obsessed about "sustainability."
Intel's website lists endless ESG goals like "environmental, health, wellness, and safety programs to care for people and the planet." It even brags about "green software" ... whatever that is.
That's a lot of energy spent not making the best chip. When companies spend time sucking up to politicians rather than innovating, they often decline. Intel's stock fell 60% last year...SNIP
Can you believe that it has only been one week? And we have 207 more to go!
You’re forgetting JD’s presidency...623 to go ;-)
I remember when this nonsense hit Intel in around 2010.
They used to ONLY hire engineers at the top of their class from Stanford, Berkeley, MIT and a few others.
Suddenly managers were complaining that all they were allowed to hire were way sub standard engineers.
Thus 15 years later, they are at the brink of collapse.
“Can you believe that it has only been one week? And we have 207 more to go!”
More like 100 that we can count on. In two years, depending on cheating, we easily could lose House and Senate.
He’s gonna be balls to the wall for two years and try to cram as much good into the country as possible.
Needs to be set in stone by legislation.
Good news, now if we can get rid of MSG
“This fad didn’t just hurt investors; it hurt companies that America needs.”
That was the intent.
L
ESG also required companies and their heads to make giant contributions to progressive causes and to Democrats, a “Pay to play” scheme. By doing this it increased the “G” metric massively.
Indeed. I was telling people that last week. We have 12 years. There is no one, absolutely no one on the left that has anything. They’re all weak, recycled pathetic tools catering to the minority.
Should have a slow painful end.
I took hope it dies a slow painful death.
What I fear is that it will remain - renamed and rebranded.
Such as CRT morphing into DEI.
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