I have not looked into it (Blackrock and the accusations against them) very deeply.
I know that they have some products that are marketed toward the ESG crowd and some that are not.
I know that they have been accused of being over-the-top ESG investors.
I know that at least some of those accusations were inaccurate, untrue and over-the-top
The handful of times I looked into those wrong accusations they were made by the sub-type of so-called conservatives who, in reality seem to be constantly waiting (with both barrels loaded) to attack corporations, banks, the rich and free markets in general.
I’d really have to do more study to know if my suspicions are accurate, but for now, I suspect the anti-blackrock backlash is misplaced and misguided.
ESG scores are all about sustainability, as explained by Moodys (yes, the same ones who told us several decades ago how sustainable mortgages were, before they weren’t). I understand Busch has a great ESG score and therefore should be a great investment.
A company being diverse is a whole lot different then a company saying I am an oppressor or a racist or a bigot.
I think many conservatives have experienced their opinions silenced in many situations from twitter, to their jobs, education, etc. they have been publicly accused of being the things I mentioned before.
They may be embracing the power of the purse because they can do it without individually being called out or publically involved.
That would be the “E” part.
“E” is for environmental and it can mean anything from
“don’t invest in companies that pollute the water” to
“all oil is bad bad bad always bad.”
“S” is for “social”
again whatever standard the ratings group wants. Giving $1 million to BLM could be a bad rating if it thinks $10 million is better.
“G” is for governance.
If two-thirds of the directors are women or minorities a company might still get a bad rating because it lacks trannies or Muslims.
Point being
ESG goes far beyond environmental
The ratings standard is completely subjective and changes depending on how radical the ratings group is.
Allegedly, Jesse Jackson used to run a ratings group (operation Push) that gave bad race-relations ratings to every company that did not hire his friends as race-consultants. It was a shake-down operation that would have made the mafia jealous.
Okay.
but if I form one (with or without your sorry ass)
“E” will mean they sign a statement supporting nuclear energy,
“S” will mean they refuse to discriminate.
“G” will mean 100% of directors and managers must live in fly-over country, send their kids to public schools and eat meat daily.
Added:
Anyone can form a ratings group and set any standard they want.
The ratings groups are un-elected, self-proclaimed & and set whatever standard they want.
ESG standards are not set by congress, not by any government agency. Any group of lefties, righties or in-betweenies can form a ratings group. there must be a dozen different groups and standards for environmentally friendly seafood, each with a different standard
We’ll give a perfect “10” to Koch Brothers and Trump industries and a -10 to Disney and Target,.