I appreciate your hot take on this. As a planner, I have these conversations often. My most “esg” focused clients focus on donating their time and dollars charitably to have a greater impact. Because as you said, a $10k “divestment” doesn’t mean shit to a large company.
And it can be all about reframing the investment narrative. For instance, the other day, a client felt so good about donating some highly appreciated stock to their DAF. Knowing “my investment that did well can now be put towards the greater good”. This company was TSLA.
Thanks for all that you do and write. Looking forward to your next post.
If you really look into all the shenanigans that has happened at Wells it's a good order of magnitude worse than JPM/Chase. Money laundering for drug cartels that ordered plastic trays that could be stuffed with cash and still fit through the Wells teller windows... the list is enormous. But your points that investing ethically is a bit more like peeing in the ocean. Just not that much impact on the ocean. However my view is less about changing the world but more that I don't want to benefit from other people's suffering. I won't buy Nestle because they profited from pushing formula on moms in the third world. That's not going to change them but I am more worried about them changing me.
The rubric for "making the world a better place" in some of Eventide's funds is even more vague than what I've described. "Creating Compelling Value for Society and the Global Common Good
Focused on identifying and investing in companies capable of increasing profitability and growth by serving well the needs of customers, employees, suppliers, communities, the environment, and society." -That seems incredibly vague. One of the top holdings in the fund is American Express, a known bad actor when it comes to directly supporting small businesses in local communities. So my point is...where do we draw the line? And who gets to draw that line? Unfortunately, you're paying a hefty premium for box checking.
Wow. Thanks for replying! It’s true that we operate in a broken world where nothing is perfectly good. But I would rather be headed towards the sunrise, even if I am not walking in a straight line.
Thanks for your comment. I struggled to make my point because there are so many examples of this. Every time I look under the hood of one of these funds, I see a random mishmash of companies that check a certain set of boxes...so my conclusion is that all of this is just a bunch of bollocks.
I appreciate your hot take on this. As a planner, I have these conversations often. My most “esg” focused clients focus on donating their time and dollars charitably to have a greater impact. Because as you said, a $10k “divestment” doesn’t mean shit to a large company.
And it can be all about reframing the investment narrative. For instance, the other day, a client felt so good about donating some highly appreciated stock to their DAF. Knowing “my investment that did well can now be put towards the greater good”. This company was TSLA.
Thanks for all that you do and write. Looking forward to your next post.
Oh, I hope this doesn't come across as a hot take! It's a take that's been simmering over years of conversations and complicated feelings.
Thank you for this expansive and thought provoking piece.
If you really look into all the shenanigans that has happened at Wells it's a good order of magnitude worse than JPM/Chase. Money laundering for drug cartels that ordered plastic trays that could be stuffed with cash and still fit through the Wells teller windows... the list is enormous. But your points that investing ethically is a bit more like peeing in the ocean. Just not that much impact on the ocean. However my view is less about changing the world but more that I don't want to benefit from other people's suffering. I won't buy Nestle because they profited from pushing formula on moms in the third world. That's not going to change them but I am more worried about them changing me.
This is something I’ve been wrestling with. Thanks for this! Your thoughts are definitely helping me process mine 💭
I wrestled over this post for months myself. There are so many layers here.
Thisz is why I like Eventide. It’s not about checking boxes but about making the world a better place.
The rubric for "making the world a better place" in some of Eventide's funds is even more vague than what I've described. "Creating Compelling Value for Society and the Global Common Good
Focused on identifying and investing in companies capable of increasing profitability and growth by serving well the needs of customers, employees, suppliers, communities, the environment, and society." -That seems incredibly vague. One of the top holdings in the fund is American Express, a known bad actor when it comes to directly supporting small businesses in local communities. So my point is...where do we draw the line? And who gets to draw that line? Unfortunately, you're paying a hefty premium for box checking.
Wow. Thanks for replying! It’s true that we operate in a broken world where nothing is perfectly good. But I would rather be headed towards the sunrise, even if I am not walking in a straight line.
Thanks for your comment. I struggled to make my point because there are so many examples of this. Every time I look under the hood of one of these funds, I see a random mishmash of companies that check a certain set of boxes...so my conclusion is that all of this is just a bunch of bollocks.