As ESG investments get green light from federal regulators, the debates heat up

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | December 12, 2022 | Tim Grant

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Chevron Corp. turned out to be one of the top performing assets David Root included this year in the workplace retirement portfolios his firm manages for companies that offer employee 401k plans.

And he makes no apologies for the investment.

“If you didn’t have energy as part of your portfolio this year — which averaged 35% to 40% returns — you had no chance of outperforming the S&P 500,” said Mr. Root, CEO of DBR & Co., Downtown.

Some fund managers guided by their environmental, social and governance values rather than pure financial considerations might have ruled out an investment in a fossil fuel-related company like Chevron — as well as in businesses involved in weapons or vices like tobacco, alcohol and gambling.

The federal government recently gave its blessing to allow workplace retirement plan fiduciaries to weigh a company’s ESG compliant factors along with financial analysis when choosing investments.

A ruling in late November by the U.S. Department of Labor reversed Trump-era rules which required retirement plan fiduciaries to use only financial analysis when deciding which investments to include in 401k plans.

The new DOL rule — officially named Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights — opens the door for fund managers and 401k plan sponsors to consider how well companies perform in areas such as climate change or social equity as part of the investment selection process.

ESG is a type of investing that measures a company’s sustainability with non-financial factors such as the diversity of its board of directors, executive pay, lawsuits, lobbying and political contributions.

[EEGator]

ESG = Corporate Fiduciary Negligence

[Kaiser8408a]

I managed money professionally. I remember The Sullivan Principles where pension funds would avoid companies that did business with apartheid South Africa. Great, make South Africa suffer.

Someone should start a NON-ESG fund that will outperform the woke ESG stocks.

[Common Sense 101]

ESG is a type of investing government extortion devised by vile, Demonic Party scum, that measures a company’s sustainability with non-financial factors such as the diversity of its board of directors, executive pay, lawsuits, lobbying and political contributions seeks to ensure financial punishment and compensation for companies that do not comply with their perverted worldview. [Corrected]

[butlerweave]

Another Chinese Communist Party control the masses idea