Excellence Capitalism & Anti-ESG ETFs
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ESG investing, which had exploded in popularity over the past few years, is facing a backlash lately. Flows into ESG ETFs have faltered this year as performance has suffered due to too much tech exposure and low allocation to energy stocks.
There is increasing regulatory scrutiny as well amid allegations of greenwashing and mislabeling of products as ESG.
Strive Asset Management, backed by high-profile investors like Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman, wants to remove politics from investing and promote excellence capitalism. The “anti-woke” firm says large asset managers push divisive social and political agendas, which cause companies to underperform and harm investors’ interests.
The US energy industry was the most impacted by the rise in ESG investing as it vastly reduced investments in domestic oil and gas exploration and production. The firm recently launched the Strive U.S. Energy ETF (DRLL - Free Report), which would use its shareholder-voting power to encourage energy companies to “drill more and frack more.”
DRLL has already gathered about $330 million in assets within six weeks of its launch. Exxon Mobil (XOM - Free Report), Chevron (CVX - Free Report), ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report), EOG Resources (EOG - Free Report), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY - Free Report) are its top holdings.
Strive launched its second ETF this week. The Strive 500 ETF (STRV - Free Report) would compete with ETFs tracking the S&P 500 Index. Apple (AAPL - Free Report), Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report), Tesla (TSLA - Free Report), and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) are among its top holdings.
Video Length: 00:07:24
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