ESG
A cartel-like rating system conjured up by woke corporations
"Woke capital" -- Ron DeSantis
"I am increasingly convinced that corporate ESG is the Devil Incarnate" -- Elon Musk
"Woke corporations are collectively adopting and imposing progressive policy goals that American consumers do not want or do not need." -- The Republican Party
"A textbook antitrust violation." -- Sean Fieler, president of Equinox Partners
"Communism rebranded" -- Elon Musk
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) is an Orwellian rating system conjured up by leftists to attempt to, among other things, cancel companies that burn too much C02 (global warming hysteria), don't have enough diversity (AKA hire less white people and less men instead of hiring by merit), don't follow government rules (piled on by Democrats), etc. Don't be surprised if gun manufacturers are given low scores, or if political party affiliation affects a company's score. Morningstar penalizes 'controversial weapons' and 'small arms'. US|SIF penalizes 'board issues', which could mean almost anything (board of directors targeted/cancelled by the ACLU, activists, etc).
Brokerages can choose whether or not to display these ratings. Some may provide the ratings as an option that customers can choose to enable.
ESG also attacks individuals. Merrill Lynch assigns an ESG score to customers, then shares it with banks, lenders, etc. That score may be based on social justice warrior causes such as global warming, diversity, guns, political party affiliation, etc.
Florida Governor DeSantis is seeking to prevent state fund managers from considering ESG factors when investing government money, and to stop banks from discriminating against customers based on their political and social beliefs (which is what ESG does).
When it comes to investing we recommend the following:
Invest in equally-weighted broad market index funds such as ticker symbol RSP (S&P 500 index), and ticker symbol EUSA (large and mid-caps) in order to minimize support for the biggest left-wing tech companies. While far from perfect, you can also invest in the American Conservative Values index fund (ticker symbol ACVF) and MAGA (companies that support GOP). Never put all of your stock eggs in one company 'basket', however, you might also consider investing a little in DWAC, which merged with Trump. Also, of course, invest in a total bond market index fund.