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In this episode of ETF Spotlight, I speak with Matt Cole, Head of Product and Investments at Strive Asset Management, about excellence capitalism and anti-ESG investing.

Per Strive, large asset managers push divisive social and political agendas, which cause companies to underperform and harm investors’ interests. The 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 “anti-woke” firm backed by high-profile investors like Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman, 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.”

The Strive U.S. Energy ETFETF (DRLL) has already gathered about $250 million in assets within two weeks of its launch. It tracks an index quite similar to BlackRock’s iShares U.S. Energy ETF (IYE - Free Report) and charges the same expense ratio. 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.

The asset manager plans to launch more products in the coming months. The most interesting would be ultra-cheap Strive 500 ETF, which would compete with ETFs tracking the S&P 500 Index.

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