ESG

kiakosan

Are there any ETF/similar financial instruments that do the opposite of ethical investing/ESG? I want to invest in those companies

Novel-Emotion-5208

There are actually several credible bearish perspectives on Bitcoin. While the cryptocurrency has seen impressive growth and adoption, there are legitimate concerns that could impact its long-term value: 1. Regulatory crackdowns - Governments worldwide continue developing stricter regulations that could limit Bitcoin's utility and accessibility. 2. Environmental concerns - Bitcoin's proof-of-work consensus mechanism consumes enormous energy, making it vulnerable to ESG-focused investment restrictions. 3. Technical limitations - Bitcoin's transaction throughput remains relatively slow and expensive compared to newer cryptocurrencies and traditional payment systems. 4. Market concentration - A small number of "whales" hold a disproportionate amount of Bitcoin, creating potential market manipulation risks. 5. Competition - Thousands of alternative cryptocurrencies exist with potentially superior technology, some specifically designed to address Bitcoin's limitations. 6. Mainstream adoption challenges - Despite years of existence, Bitcoin still hasn't achieved widespread merchant adoption or replaced traditional currencies for everyday transactions. 7. Volatility issues - Bitcoin's price instability makes it problematic as both a currency and a stable store of value. 8. Tether and stablecoin risks - The crypto market relies heavily on questionably-backed stablecoins that could collapse if regulatory action occurs. The educated bearish view isn't that Bitcoin will necessarily go to zero, but rather that its current valuation may not be justified by its utility, adoption rate, and the significant challenges it faces moving forward.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ You are very one dimensional.

Space-Turtle88

Supporting warcrimes and russia is fine, but Anti-DEI is a no go. Some weird conflicting ethics going on there. Definitely have their own definition of ESG at that company.

IronyElSupremo

Actually there’s been companies that screen to avoid societal ills for awhile. Calvert funds started in the 1980s for those who wanted to avoid ills and vices (no tobacco, booze, gambling, and war stocks). Now there’s funds/ETFs, and even indices with as many various “ESG” screens as you want. Deeper in there’s even global “green/ESG” infrastructure and/or an energy ETFs (Blackrock/ishares). They even have major indices or combos of with various ESG screens. Their ESG S&P-based US large cap still has 450 or so stocks out of the regular 500, for example. So a lot of companies do well by basic ESG standards. The easiest is a growth fund or growth index where it’s mostly tech with highly compensated employees (note: I’m good with the whole “killer robot” thing). There’s even tech-sector index funds with companies who hire engineers, programmers, etc.. who at least have the math skills to figure out their compensation .. or even a semi-conductor index. Combine that with an ESG value [index] fund for dividends and perhaps an ESG [index] fund for the emerging markets if you are young. The ESG developed non-US funds have a lot of their tech fwiw. Bond-wise there’s even green bonds that pay modern lumberjacks to cut trees for fire breaks, and then sell the wood for whatever including biomass alt energy projects. Probably a fund like that somewhere

DckThik

The only people that benefit from not having policies that support workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion, are those associated with the corporate entity. Same goes for ESG investing and governance. Now your shareholders aren’t in alignment with your corporate entity and those who don’t support the vision of the shareholders, don’t support the business, and should be released from service.

5D-4C-08-65

Yeah, because when people ask for advice they usually ask for the best financial choice, not the best “moral choice”. Peddling an ESG fund to someone asking for the best financial choice would be dishonest (even arguably _immoral_, ironically).

Cormyster12

Go invest in ESG so some German can tell you you're saving the environment while outsourcing industry to dirty factories and slaves

ziggy029

IMO it's more effective to just invest for maximum growth and use the gains to fund the causes you support and care most about. In the meantime, there are plenty of ESG investments for you to use.

5D-4C-08-65

You are free to invest in ESG ETFs. Or even make up your own custom allocation with your own morality score. Nothing is blocking you and you’re not alone, ESG ETFs were built exactly for people like you. Not sure what your point is.

Seastep

> ESG There's still a lot of US companies in the top holdings, so just curious why this one, and not something like SPMO which is outperforming it AND has a lower ER?

zxc123zxc123

Honestly? I think BlackRock is evil enough. They are mainly just apathetic, realist, and self-interested. They actually make very few investments themselves but create offerings the market wants. In short they just go with the flow. They were all for ESG a few years ago when there was demand for it, but then go into crypto when it's offered even though their own CEO thinks it's stupid. As for stock? Blackrock actually does pretty well investors of BLK. Maybe something like BP? Destroys the world by lying about climate change in the 60-80s, continues to pump fossil fuels, pushes bogus science regarding climate change, [skimps on investments/regulations/hiring/checks which leads to the BP oil spill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill), destroy the gulf of Mexico for generations, require huge cleanup effort, ruin the lives of those that live there, and ALSO CRATER INVESTOR EQUITY (BP is down over -82% since 2007 peaks).

No-Kings

Think beyond just SP500. $HYG Bonds - Diversified Junk Bonds will have the highest yield. Over 1k bonds represented rebalancing frequently. $JEPI - Good ol dividend equities, if their yield falls below downside losses, I’d be surprised. ESG Equal Weight International Index - Global Companies with solid moral leanings are less likely to be financially unstable. Equal weight will keep you most diversified. It’s not what you do in a bull market, but a bear market that makes you a good investor.

AdministrationBig839

Ok hear me out in the billionaire thing.. The billionaires running America today aren’t entrepreneurs. They’re empire managers. They didn’t invent anything. They inherited monopolies, scaled them globally. Warren Buffett buys up broken-down companies and milks them- Jeff Bezos replaced American towns with Amazon warehouses and Chinese supply chains. The Walton family killed small business across the country—one Walmart at a time. George Soros plays currency markets like a god and funds chaos for profit. Bill Gates wrapped himself around global health and education systems—not to fix them, but to control them. These guys didn’t build America. They built a system to feed off it. But a new faction rose—one that doesn’t intergrate with the previous group. Elon Musk didn’t inherit power. He earned it by bleeding for it, building rockets when NASA gave up, building electric cars when Big Auto laughed, buying Twitter to break the media narrative. Peter Thiel said no to Silicon Valley groupthink and backed the only people who dared to speak truth to power. David Sacks called out the ESG scam and corporate censorship when no one else would. Vivek Ramaswamy left the pharma cartel and started torching the sacred cows of the system—DEI, ESG, and every fake reform. These aren’t billionaires who want to keep the system. They want to disrupt it and crash it and rebuild it from the ground up. And who do they orbit? Trump. Not because he’s “one of them” in tech or innovation—but because he’s the only one with the spine to go to war with the same enemy: The corporate cartel that gutted America. Trump is their battering ram. He’s the wrecking ball they all bet on—not just for themselves, but for the janitor, the builder, the welder, and the trucker who got left behind. And that’s why the system fears him. And this time, the rebellion is funded. (Cue in john williams star wars opening theme)

AdministrationBig839

The billionaires running America today aren’t entrepreneurs. They’re empire managers. They didn’t invent anything. They inherited monopolies, scaled them globally on cheap Chinese labor, and used Wall Street to drain the life out of middle America. Warren Buffett buys up broken-down companies and milks them dry. Jeff Bezos replaced American towns with Amazon warehouses and Chinese supply chains. The Walton family killed small business across the country—one Walmart at a time. George Soros plays currency markets like a god and funds chaos for profit. Bill Gates wrapped himself around global health and education systems—not to fix them, but to control them. These guys didn’t build America. They built a system to feed off it. ⸻ But a new faction rose—one that doesn’t play by Wall Street’s rules. Elon Musk didn’t inherit power. He earned it by bleeding for it—building rockets when NASA gave up, building electric cars when Big Auto laughed, buying Twitter to break the media narrative. Peter Thiel said no to Silicon Valley groupthink and backed the only people who dared to speak truth to power. David Sacks called out the ESG scam and corporate censorship when no one else would. Vivek Ramaswamy left the pharma cartel and started torching the sacred cows of the system—DEI, ESG, and every fake reform. These aren’t billionaires who want to keep the system. They want to crash it—and rebuild it from the ground up. And who do they orbit? Trump. Not because he’s “one of them” in tech or innovation—but because he’s the only one with the spine to go to war with the same enemy: The corporate-state cartel that gutted America. ⸻ This isn’t about tax cuts. It’s about survival. Trump is their battering ram. He’s the wrecking ball they all bet on—not just for themselves, but for the janitor, the builder, the welder, and the trucker who got left behind. And that’s why the system fears him. Because this time, the rebellion is funded

AdministrationBig839

Let me try to explain my pov here- The billionaires running America today aren’t entrepreneurs. They’re empire managers. They didn’t invent anything. They inherited monopolies, scaled them globally on cheap Chinese labor, and used Wall Street to drain the life out of middle America. Warren Buffett buys up broken-down companies and milks them dry. Jeff Bezos replaced American towns with Amazon warehouses and Chinese supply chains. The Walton family killed small business across the country one Walmart at a time. George Soros plays currency markets like a god and funds chaos for profit. Bill Gates wrapped himself around global health and education systems not to fix them, but to control them. These guys didn’t build America. They built a system to feed off it. But a new faction rose—one that doesn’t play by Wall Street’s rules. Elon Musk didn’t inherit power. He earned it by bleeding for it, building rockets when NASA gave up, building electric cars when Big Auto laughed, buying Twitter to break the media narrative. Peter Thiel said no to Silicon Valley groupthink and backed the only people who dared to speak truth to power. David Sacks called out the ESG scam and corporate censorship when no one else would. Vivek Ramaswamy left the pharma cartel and started torching the sacred cows of the system—DEI, ESG, and every fake reform. These aren’t billionaires who want to keep the system. They want to crash it and rebuild it from the ground up. And who do they orbit? Trump. Not because he’s “one of them” in tech or innovation but because he’s the only one with the spine to go to war with the same enemy. The US corporate cartel. Trump is their battering ram. He’s the wrecking ball they all bet on, not just for themselves, but for the janitor, the builder, the welder, and the trucker who got left behind. And that’s why the system fears him. Because this time, the rebellion is funded

Scary-Ad5384

Well I imagine they throw out multiple type of investments trying to appeal to multiple type of investors so they can collect fees. Remember the ESG funds?

Far_Sentence_5036

$PLBY Playboy Group DD Good work from Uzi Capital here. Some good Due Dilligence (DD) . I think degens behind wendies can get behind it. I’m a de-spac microcap with a chequered history and a prolonged period of poor share price performance (-98% from 2021 highs). I’ve been ignored for years. There’s been no online write ups for 2 years. Never discussed on Microcap Club. Nothing detailed on X (Twitter). There are 2 blog write ups in 2023: one neutral, one positive - both are outdated. Investor letters: only Greenlight has mentioned me, I was described as an “unsuccessful investment” in Q3 2022. Value Investor Club: I was pitched once in 2021, as a short. Just one sell side analyst covers me and initiated a couple of months ago. I’m also a sin stock so anyone with an ESG mandate can’t own me. Yet I’m one of the most recognised consumer brands in the world, with over 70 years of heritage and a lot has changed in the last 6 months. I was distressed until a recent debt restructuring and a transformational licensing deal with a strategic partner drastically improved my financial footing. The strategic partner is an unlisted, online behemoth, with over 70m DAUs. The licensing deal means I’ll earn at least 3x my market cap in 100% margin licensing fees over the life of the contract, with further upside if the 25% net profit exceeds the $20m per year minimum guarantee. The strategic partner has a taken a board seat. This insider, who has the deepest insights into my largest profit stream, is buying 30% of the company at a 50% premium! I suspect they see the strategic value in my brand and/or expect to end up paying me materially more than the minimum guarantee, via the 25% profit share. I’m now free cash flow positive, and focused on growing my core business, which is very high quality. I’m going back to my roots. I only have one remaining non-core asset to sell and the proceeds from that should wipe out most of my debt. My remaining core business is solely focused on licensing my iconic brand. There will no M&A and after retiring debt, free cashflow will go exclusively to shareholder returns. $20m of overhead (plus $3m SBC) is all that is needed to support this. Minimum guarantees provide downside protection, accounting for 85% of today’s licensing revenues. I’m confident that I can re-invigorate growth, now that I have the bandwidth and financial resources to do so. My China business has been weighed down by both problematic licensing partners and macro headwinds. New Chinese licensing partners have now been in place for 12 months and are ramping up. Until very recently I had neglected 2 key licensing verticles: gaming & land based entertainment (LBE) which were big revenue contributors pre-covid. My management team are also excited by the monetisation potential in new untapped verticles. Licensing revenues with c.90% gross margins combined with minimal capex, interest expense, cash taxes (thanks for multiples of my market cap in NOLs) and no working capital needs means that 80% of incremental revenue growth should drop through to free cash flow. Scenario analysis, assuming I’m a debt-free pure licensing business: A) No growth: => c.7x FCF, with c.40% FCF margins. B) LBE & gaming recover to pre-covid levels: => 4-5x FCF, with c.50% FCF margins. C) China, LBE and gaming recover to 50% of pre-covid levels: => c.4x FCF, with c.55% FCF margins. D) China recovers to pre-covid levels: => c.3x FCF, with c.60% FCF margins. E) China, LBE and gaming recover to pre-covid levels: => c.2x FCF, with c.65% FCF margins I’ll let you decide what the right multiple is for a pure play licensing business, with 90% gross margin, 40-60% FCF margins, with downside protected by minimum guarantees. Who Am I?……I’m Plby Group Inc (PLBY) aka Playboy Disclaimer: The author owns securities in PLBY….DYODD, nothing written is investment advice.

twenson

In fact, I used to be often unable to catch the rhythm, and then slowly found some of their own methods.Generally I will look at a few things: the trend of the market (especially the position of the SPY and QQQ), changes in the VIX, sector rotation (such as energy, technology in the rise or fall), and the news there is no macro [risk.In](http://risk.In) the case of SPYX, it is biased towards ESG, green energy, so if the market risk sentiment rises and the energy sector weakens, I will start to stare at it, and then see if there are any technical breakdowns or rebound weakness points - buy puts at this time, the success rate will be higher!

TopherBrennan

Learned today that my mom holds ESG funds. Normies, man. (I told her she should complain to her financial advisor about one of them holding Tesla.)

LowRelative4793

Long-Term Investment Advice I’m looking to build a long-term (15–20-year) investment portfolio. Although I already hold small positions in stocks and cryptocurrency, I’d like to focus primarily on ETFs—incorporating stocks, bonds, and commodities. I am looking for highly diversified portfolio with aggresive investment approach. Since I’m not well educated on this matter, I’ve used AI tools to shortlist a few candidates, but I’d welcome additional insight or suggestions. I’m based in Europe and trade through IBKR. Here’s the allocation I’m considering: * **iShares Core S&P 500 UCITS ETF USD (CSPX.L)** – 40% * **Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF Distributing (VEUR)** – 16% * **Xtrackers MSCI AC Asia ex Japan ESG Swap UCITS ETF 1C (XAXJ.L)** – 16% * **Amundi Pan Africa UCITS ETF Acc (LGQM.L)** – 8% * **Amundi Euro Government Inflation-Linked Bond UCITS ETF (EMI.L)** – 10% * **Amundi Physical Gold ETC (GLDA.L)** – 10%

Ok-Buy-9777

They follow ESG rules, and their goal is to diversify. They invest in property aswell, also currencies. Its about wealth preservation

Vanillas_Guy

Construction, gold, and manufacturing. I've got money in some gold ETFs like OUNZ and a company(GAU) that acquires gold and other minerals. Both have been doing relatively okay. The ESG fund I'm invested in(ESGC) from invesco has been doing well too. I have a China ETF(GXC) that I suspect will grow with time.

ILikeXiaolongbao

Not an ESG investor by any means but I wouldn’t put my money near any of these orgs, even if I got a good return. Some things are more important than moneyZ

Mr_Pricklepants

I've found some well-performing ESG funds, but expenses were higher. The selection criteria didn't actually make me feel good about them anyway.

Mr_Pricklepants

Look at the top 10 holdings for funds you're considering. If they're Mag 7 and/or US-based, ask yourself whether that's the sort of international investments you're looking for now. Cast a similar eye over holdings for ESG funds. I'd they're not what you want, look for something "ex US." They do exist.

andybmcc

ESG is a scam.  Bottom one is selecting companies that are expensive to own hoping that they grow fast.  The total index fund is the most sensible.

NextStepTexas

VTSNX is more broad and diversified because you get a little bit of everything. VWILX is more focused on companies that are expected to grow more than the market average. Can do one, the other, or both. Lower expense ratio is good, but growth has recently had better returns. That does NOT mean that that will continue to be true in the future. If you don't know what ESG is, it's not important for you.

Disastrous_Equal8589

Top is ESG, middle is total international market, bottom is international growth. I’d personally go with total international

VenatorFelis

Denmarks Akademiker pension fund has divested from Tesla and removed an US asset manager both over ESG concerns. This aspect of EU-US economic relations has gotten little attention so far but could also have quite some impact given the US backtracking from environmental and other regulations.

friendlytoxicity

Does anybody have information on Camber’s relation to the Scuderi group, ESG clean energy or Simson Maxwell. Just looking for information. Feel free to DM. Any leads on all companies would be helpful.

QuantumWarrior

His support of the Dems is part of why some people hate him so much, they see Blackrock as a vehicle for "woke policy" via financially supporting outfits which follow it. Their support of investment practices such as ESG is a big part of that. There's also more farfetched ideas like somehow believing Blackrock is actually worth the trillions in assets it manages which betrays a deep misunderstanding of how asset management works.

pnw_sunny

Larry is the fucktard that got us going down the ESG path for a number of years, by forcing companies to tow the ESG line through his proxy voting. completely moronic.. He has zero credibility, just another loud mouth money changer.

Dazzling_River9903

Fink is a lifelong Democrat and BlackRock one of the few companies on the Street which pushes ESG investing - and defending it against the Trump admins ‚new policies‘. He is basically the opposite of what you accuse him of.

RiseOdd123

It’s a very specific ESG fund that doesn’t exist in an ETF, I’m basically switching share classes at the same provider.

MyLuckIsTurning

🥭 ordered a federal review of state energy regulations, targeting state laws he argues unfairly restrict domestic energy (oil, gas, coal, nuclear) production. The AG will identify and challenge state policies deemed unconstitutional or illegal, especially those involving climate change, ESG initiatives, or carbon taxes. States like NY and California explicitly named for their aggressive climate laws. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-energy-from-state-overreach/

Mr_Pricklepants

Unfortunately true. When I've looked at ESG funds, many of the stakes in them still made me want to vomit. Also, many of them have much higher expense ratios than many comparable funds. That said, you won't necessarily have to sacrifice that much performance. I owned some as long as decades ago, and they actually did quite well.

Academic-Image-6097

No, I don't. I am in an All-world ETF that doesn't do ESG inclusion. But I am re-considering this lately, as you can see. Perhaps VanEck Sustainable World ETF, but it's not market cap-weighted and does not exclude fossil fuel. Maybe iShares MSCI World SRI UCITS. The choice depends on your country, your desired exclusions and your broker, I suppose. Honestly, I might just sell it all, pay off my mortgage and hopefully sleep better at night. But that's me.

uillymac

Thanks! Do you invest in any particular ESG ETF?

Academic-Image-6097

Yes, I would say it does. Owning a part of a company that manufactures weapons, machines designed for killing people, would make you complicit. I personally don't because my religion forbids murder, and for me it logically follows that I should not take part in anything that has to do with that. As others have stated in this thread, that probably hardly matters for these companies operation, as someone else will buy their stock and the influence of a single investor is very small. But I still don't buy these stocks because I am afraid of going to hell. Then there is the point that all this stock trading perpetuates capitalism, the ever increasing accumulation of wealth, the widening gap between the owners and the workers. It's just moving numbers around without actually helping anyone. And of course, any company that you might buy might still be downstream or upstream from the industries you disavow. Steel and aluminium can be used for houses and airplanes, or for guns and rockets. Most world religion have some warning against rent-seeking: "Doomed are those who accumulate houses, those who also accumulate landed property until there is no land left, and you are the only landowners remaining within the land". Isaiah 5:8 in the Bible. Or the Qur'ān: “Those who consume interest cannot stand [on the Day of Resurrection] except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, ‘Trade is [just] like interest.’ But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest...” Surah Al-Baqarah 2:275 On the other hand, making moral choices under capitalism is very, very hard, and you can't help it that you were born into this world, have to exchange your labour for money, and that investing is one of the few ways of saving up your money without it getting eaten by inflation. We have to look out for our own interests. There are ESG ETFs, that exclude the worst companies, like weapon manufacturers. An example is the S&P500 Catholic Values ETF, which excludes companies in the Gambling, Tobacco, Weapons industries, and excludes companies that have had incidents with child labour in the past. If they don't exclude too many companies, these ETFs can still be profitable and diversified. There are many other ETFs like this, and I would urge you to research them. Some might also exclude fossil fuel companies, for example.

DaemonTargaryen2024

You can look at ESG funds. But you’re not going to find a “morally clean” investing strategy, it just doesn’t exist.

FuinFirith

Very much appreciated. So if the ownership/support aspect and the ethical aspect apply to stocks but not to ETFs\*, why is there any personal ethical distinction between investing in an ESG ETF and an DarkEvilVices ETF? \* Incidentally, is this because the ETF buyer doesn't directly own the stock shares, since technically the ETF supplier does? And is this a materially meaningful distinction?

Other-Midnight6783

Your first paragraph is correct re: the ETF but not re: buying stock. When you buy a share of stock you’re buying a share of the company/becoming a part owner/effectively “endorsing/actively supporting” what that company does (What it makes, its business practices…). All of that goes into your calculation of whether to buy a share of a stock. A great example are ESG ETF’s. They’ve fallen a bit out of favor but the idea is that they focus on more socially conscious companies, potentially at the expense of performance. Back to ETF’s: The benefit of an ETF is the diversification of stocks. “Stock picking” is basically impossible, and an ETF mitigates that risk. On the other hand, it mitigates the opportunity for upside.

heartbreakids

Ok let me break down my own personal opinion Biden’s term saw significant stock market gains, with the S&P 500 rising about 58% from his inauguration to the end, according to data from financial analyses. This growth outpaced historical averages (the S&P 500’s long-term annualized return is around 10%)However, presidents have limited direct control over the stock market, as it’s driven more by macroeconomic trends, corporate earnings, and Federal Reserve policies. Biden’s impact must be evaluated through his administration’s specific actions—fiscal policy, regulation, and economic interventions. On the positive side, Biden’s early-term fiscal stimulus, notably the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan injected liquidity into the economy. This bolstered consumer spending and corporate revenues, supporting stock valuations as markets recovered from COVID-19 lows. The ARP likely stabilized investor confidence by signaling government commitment to economic recovery, a key structural underpinning. Also, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021 However, the ARP’s scale, alongside prior COVID relief, contributed to a money supply surge (M2 grew by over 25% from 2020 to 2022), fueling inflation that peaked at 9.1% in June 2022!!!!!!! This prompted the Federal Reserve to hike rates aggressively— from near-zero to over 5% by 2023—triggering a 2022 bear market where the S&P 500 dropped nearly 20%. Critics argue this volatility strained the market’s stability, as rapid rate shifts disrupted valuations and investor predictability, core structural elements. Regulatory moves, like the SEC’s increased scrutiny of ESG investing and cryptocurrency, also sparked debate. Proponents say they protected investors, enhancing trust; detractors claim they stifled innovation in emerging sectors, potentially weakening market dynamism. Market structure itself—trading systems, liquidity provision—saw little direct change under Biden. The SEC, under his appointee Gary Gensler, pursued reforms like the 2022 proposal to shift to T+1 settlement (finalized in 2024), reducing counterparty risk. This technical improvement likely strengthened resilience, though it’s a continuation of pre-existing trends rather than a Biden-specific initiative. Meanwhile, corporate tax hikes proposed by Biden (e.g., raising the rate from 21% to 28%) largely failed to pass, avoiding a direct hit to earnings that might have rattled market confidence. Context matters: Biden inherited a market rebounding from pandemic lows, juiced by Trump-era stimulus and Fed easing. The 2023-2024 rally, driven by AI optimism and cooling inflation, owed more to technological innovation and monetary policy than White House action. Historically, market structure evolves slowly, shaped by regulators and economic cycles over decades, not single terms. So in conclusion Biden didn’t do shit but pump money into an economy where we were trillions in debt and inflation was already rampant. IMO that was contributing move for the markets to truly fall into the grips of inflation… I also dont know why the fuck jPow cut rates before the elections but I have a pretty good guess.. look at the complexity of the current picture and the true effects of this trade war and tariffs are not even evident so when you factor in that institutional selling was adding to the sell off then it almost becomes a conspiracy

Naive-Deer2116

I chose EFAX due to the lack of fossil fuel companies in the index. I know some people find ESG controversial but I have read they often have similar rates of return (sometimes even higher) due to a stricter screening process. Having money in fossil fuels is great until an oil spill happens and the company is sued! https://www.unpri.org/pri-blog/part-iii-esg-factors-and-returns-a-review-of-recent-research/12728.article#:~:text=Found%20that%20companies%20with%20better,outperformed%20those%20with%20lower%20ratings. But I’m certainly open to hearing why you prefer VXUS!

DarkRooster33

I do and dont post politics every day labeling everyone right of Mao as right wing. All the ESG and DEI policies rolled out straight from wall street. There is no such thing as imperial right wing funds, bigotry funds etc. There are endless social considerations though. They also benefit from USA markets growing and stock market and their power growing above all else, none of which are happening under mangos administration.

IndividualIron1298

The next boom will be in rare mongolian fish ETF's In an era of asset diversification and alternative investment strategies, Rare Mongolian Fish ETFs represent the pinnacle of disruptive financial innovation. Leveraging the intersection of sustainable aquaculture, geopolitical scarcity, and cutting-edge biotechnology, these ETFs capitalize on the rapidly emerging demand for high-value, eco-conscious protein sources. With Mongolia's forward-thinking regulatory environment and commitment to ecological preservation, these rare fish embody a unique, future-proof commodity poised to thrive amidst global supply chain disruptions and climate volatility. As institutional investors flock to ESG-driven, high-growth opportunities, the scarcity-driven nature of these fish—coupled with a thriving luxury food sector and niche biotech applications—positions Rare Mongolian Fish ETFs as the next frontier of alpha-generation, outpacing traditional asset classes with unparalleled risk-adjusted returns.

kaaasje

You don’t think the ESG scores will fix everything? 🤯

Messer_Anon

Yes, but the quality of a manufactured suit is immensively lower than an handmade suit, for different reasons. Notwithsanding the materials used, an on the measure / bespoke suit is tailored on the body, ensuring both durability and confort. So the "value" of a good suit still fits the example: an once of gold today (3k-ish) gets you one bespoke (just like 100 years ago). Cost is correct: fabrics are worth around 1k for ordinary measures, plus labor costs and operative costs. Slavery is still a big issue in the fashion industry: it's a key component in keeping low prices in the "fast fashion" industry as well as a way to keep lower prices on the material collected. A few good steps have been implemented with supply chain regulations and ESG requirements, but it's still a long road, unfortunately. The turning point, as always, will be consumers' choice.

wayfarer8888

Hardly anyone irlabout DEI, there's also a lot that hate it. It's like ESG that was rolled out a bit before, a trend sold to corporate managements to show action/progress within their sphere of influence, but the normal consumer couldn't care less - they want low prices and well-stocked shelves. Most don't even care if the checkout is a time-consuming clusterfuck like the typical WMT or Costco experience, do you believe these people think for one second about DEI?

Cool_Two906

I don't think ESG is destroying the world. I just think it company should focus on shareholder value while following the law

orbital_cat

Would you guys invest in a fund that tried to invest in “morally good” companies? I don’t necessarily mean an ESG fund, but something that excluded tobacco companies, gambling companies, companies that treat their employees like shit, etc.

BlueberryNo7974

That’s fair, I’m just saying you could have a bigger impact elsewhere if that’s your belief. It’s like ESG investing, there’s a reason it hasn’t don’t as well. Invest to make money and if you’re passionate about climate change then ride your bike to work. Not saying you can’t do both, but I personally would rather invest my time and energy where it’s more impactful. Simple example but just sharing a different perspective.

Stup1dMan3000

Negative feedback loop, less cars sold, fails to cover huge giga factory overhead costs, less cars = less ESG sales (1/3 of profits), less units = less revenue

ElevatorPitchGuy

I hate ESG exclusion. If you care about ESG, engage with companies (as a large investor) to make them adapt their business practices. But full ban mean the only remaining shareholders won’t care about any of that and those companies won’t change a thing.

Jealous-Hedgehog-734

ESG didn't last long did it?

SmackEh

BRI is a niche strategy with little impact on serious investing. It limits diversification by avoiding major industries, often leading to higher risk and lower returns. Many BRI funds underperform the market and charge higher fees, making them less profitable. Unlike ESG, BRI has low market influence and remains mostly for individual investors. If you want strong, diversified returns, it's best to ignore BRI and stick to broad market ETFs and proven investment strategies. This is all you need to know about BRI

ShartyMcFarty69

And its just as dumb as people investing based on ESG principals, it will underperform in the long run, i garuntee it.

xiongchiamiov

First step is to make sure investing is even the right place for this money: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics/ Ethical investing is a big can of worms, with many people believing it isn't even possible. At the least, it's financially ill-advised because removing certain companies adds uncompensated risk. But if you're going to do that, look into ESG funds. https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Social_responsibility_indices https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/investments/products/sustainable

Blueskyminer

Clean energy, EVs, anything ESG, etc. are non-starters under Mangolini.

mdukey

I would agree in your thesis around XOP. There will need to be a cyclical rotation out of the MAG 7, which has attracted the majority of the worlds investments, and into value stocks (EG XOP) alongside a change in the (incorrect) narrative that world oil consumption is decreasing. Soon enough fund managers will need to buy value, as growth or momentum stocks will no longer out preform. The ESG narrative for large investment funds will also undoubtedly change, which it seems that Trump will help change. The concern I see that you have is that over the last 12 months (3 years? 10 years if you ignore the covid collapse and recovery) XOP has gone nowhere. This will all take a decade to unfold and for investment ramp up. Patience is key.

Pathogenesls

If they haven't by now, they aren't going to. A lot of ESG funds kept them out because of their terrible governance practices.

Hiitsmetodd

ESG- we’re going green

IllustriousMess7893

ESG criteria has nothing to do with emotions. Go look it up before you make foolish comments

Lost-Style-3305

I’m doing it. And you’re exactly right ESG was full of crap, anybody should have been able to predict it. And yes you’re right it is returns or morals. You’re also right that it’s almost impossible if not impossible to find companies that tick those boxes. That’s exactly my point. Nothing is investable and we’re creating hell on earth because of your mindset that we might as well give up because you can’t get BOTH. I’d rather be poor in heaven than rich in hell.

Stup1dMan3000

Wow, Tesla, Musk and Trump will make an interesting case study in the no so distant future. Earnings and sales are under pressure from lower cost and newer competitors. BYD is a buy. ESG carbon offset make up between 30-40% of profits every quarter. ESG is falling out of favor, like DEI. Almost all of their top 10 markets are experiencing declining sales while the EV market is growing.

zampyx

Asking the question is pointless. ESG was full of crap and most people ask the question and keep financing inhumane things (including myself) The truth is that if you want to put your money on socially acceptable and morally right companies/states you would have to give up on the majority of gains and do research. It's extremely hard to find something that ticks all the boxes and it's likely less profitable than anything else. So the point is morals or financial gains. And let's be real here, there is no grey area. There is no doing 3/4 morally right things. You can't write off child labor. You can't write off the environment. You've gotta go all in and I am not aware of anyone doing it.

IllustriousMess7893

At what point will vanguard wake up and remove tsla from its ESG funds???

No-Kings

My wife won’t let me own PM. I totally would invest and it’ll make a killing off Zyn. But both her grandparents died of lung cancer, so I don’t. Pretty sure most of the global ESG etf’s have a good filter. I prefer an equal weight index currently and there is some ESG indexes performing better than SP500. To quote “The Big Short”: “We live in an era of fraud in America. Not just in banking, but in government, education, religion, food, even baseball... What bothers me isn’t that fraud is not nice. Or that fraud is mean. For fifteen thousand years, fraud and short sighted thinking have never, ever worked. Not once. Eventually you get caught, things go south. When the hell did we forget all that? I thought we were better than this, I really did.”

ziggy029

I invest for maximum growth and use some of the profits to support my favored causes. IMO that’s easier, and probably more effective, than most attempts at ESG (however any individual defines it).

pentaxlx

I prefer to invest in low-cost mutual funds such as FITLX (Normally investing at least 80% of assets in securities included in the MSCI USA ESG Index, which represents the performance of stocks of large- to mid-capitalization U.S. companies with high environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance relative to their sector peers)....has a reasonably good performance.

StuffedInABoxx

It is pretty common. I have plenty of clients who have instructed me to not trade certain stocks, industries, etc. That’s why ESG funds, ethical portfolios, and other similar restricted setups exist. Is it the majority? Not in my experience. But common enough that fund managers are building them out.

StrangePlantain

I've been using the digital advisor through vanguard for the last two years and have seen pretty awesome returns (13%). They take a significantly smaller fee than active advisors. Also have an ESG option if you're interested in investments that are less shitty for the world.

Moirailogist

Will the political situation in China lead to higher near-term growth but lower long-term growth, compared to other countries? I don't know, but at least in the near-term, China is winning. China also has a natural advantage: it is mostly a one-people country, therefore China is an adamant advocate of ESG/DEI. Regardless of the intention of ESG/DEI, it seems to have the effect of temporarily distracting the related countries from being competitive. Europe is so focused to it, so does Canada, we can cross out these two from the investment list. U.S. is also so polarized that it can't group the two polars into something meaningful. While we sit here sadly watching the high U.S. valuation to collapse, at least we can make some money out of it.

0ddmanrush

So invest in ESG funds and lose out on the money the rest of us are making.

IslesFanInNH

I don’t know what to tell you man. Market Investing in general means that you are investing in publicly traded entities. The billionaire mentality is embedded in all of them. Publicly traded companies care about money. And they will put profits over their people any day and also cater to shareholders rather than their employees. There are very very VERY few outliers. If you are looking to get as far away from those concepts as possible. You may want to consider ESG funds. ESG funds are investments that consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. They are also known as socially responsible investments (SRI) or sustainable investments. That’s about as far away as you can get from the greed. It’s not completely away, but as far away as possible.

Weary-Damage-4644

ESG funds are aimed at investors who want to take some ethical, social and governance factors into account.

8Deer-JaguarClaw

I'm pretty sure ESG is dead now. So probably not going to be much of a factor.

guy_with-thumbs

my mind says large cap takes a hit, especially ESG fund grabbers and small cap would blossom, but thats only theoretically based

Homefree_4eva

Ignore people hating on your question. You can make money while investing more ethically. VOTE is an option. It is similar to VOO in that it seeks to track to SP500. It doesn’t exclude any companies but seeks to transform companies practices through board-level advocacy. ESGV is a whole US market fund so similar to VTI but screening for poor ESG performers. VSGX is a similar thing for the International Markets excluding US (VXUS).

cuddo2847

I found these were helpful as a starting point to dive into popular ESG funds and then customize for my own: [https://double.finance/strategies/search?category=ESG](https://double.finance/strategies/search?category=ESG)

wha2les

Ishares have ESG stuff with things like military, smoking, etc. removed.

smooth_and_rough

Research ETFs that claim to have the highest ESG rating, whatever that really means. IMO its marketing spin.

robin-loves-u

i think ESG etfs might already exist, no?

nauticalmile

Problem is who defines what is “good”? Is alcohol and tobacco bad? Is the pollution from the industrial sector bad? Is the mountains of waste the consumer discretionary sector makes us create bad? Are predatory loans and fees from the financial sector bad? Are healthcare companies that favor profit over outcomes bad? If you dig deep enough, you can probably find an issue with nearly any company that at face value, a lot of people would find to be an issue. ESG and Shariah funds might be ones for you to look into, but even then, may not find what you want. Direct indexing, shorting the companies you don’t like, offsetting social concerns with donations & advocacy, or accepting there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism is unfortunately about all we can *practically* do.

nauticalmile

There’s around 3,700 investable public companies in the U.S. alone, so creating a fund for every individual investor’s personal grievances is not really feasible. There are some that say, exclude the Mag7 companies (XMAG), as well as various ESG and some Shariah funds that make non-investment criteria exclusions. But if you want VOO, you get everything that entails - you could short the parts you don’t like if so inclined. Or take the profits and apply them to countering causes.

Chrg88

DEI and ESG IS fucking fake. Good for 🍊

Betanumerus

I found that ESG versions of the big indexes have similar performance do I go with that. I’d really like to be able to pick choose specific companies to exclude, but no one that I know offers that yet.

L_DUB_U

At one time companies had to worry about their ESG scores.

Stup1dMan3000

They’re losing ESG sales as the market is moving is to discount ESG vs. seeing it as a multiplier. No reward no sales. As a result many companies are stopping their purchase of carbon offsets. Compounding this is many of the ESG credits are fraud. With over half of credits not being offset at all.

workonlyreddit

Would they lose their ESG if cars aren’t selling… ah that might explain why they are dropping prices.

Stup1dMan3000

1/3 of the profits are attributed to ESG, or companies buying offsets. Another 1/4 of profits are cyber currency trading. The cars don’t have a positive contribution margin. As volume drops, looking at China, California, Europe sales drops from 20%-50%. Might be a house of cards but it’s ok. Gotta believe the fan boys will start buying teslas real soon

IronyElSupremo

Could go with a tech laden growth fund, focusing on “real” tech instead of social media. They hire whoever can work the best while solving the problems of tomorrow. Get performance on the “upside” though not so great when “value” is king (maybe offset with an ESG consumer staples fund?). There’s the whole “killer robot” thing, but consider AI assistants just screwed up flowers delivery for Valentine’s Day, it may be a long ways off. Bonus are some are geographically diversified too (80%-90% U.S.).

IronyElSupremo

Tech-rich “growth” has been fairly ESG and the growth category/tech funds have been around for decades. Remember they hire from a pool of engineers, biochemists, and such who can perform regardless. They had to make overtures to keep their companies from being investigated, maybe preferential treatment if tariffs loom for their product, intellectual property safeguards, etc… If more companies don’t make your list, check out the few individual stocks rising through QQQJ (the NASDAQ “101-200” index) and maybe some others rising in the S&P growth/tech funds

Homefree_4eva

It’s unfortunately a very low priority for many US investors. For myself, I have spent most of my 20 years of investing with pretty poorly performing green mutual funds. However I have more recently found a compromise. VOTE is a passively managed fund that provides exposure to large-cap US stocks (like SPY and VOO). The fund encourages transformational change in the public companies it holds by applying proxy voting guidelines and engaging in dialogue with management. VOTE does not promote socially responsible investing by excluding companies based on ESG criteria. Instead, the fund favors actions that encourage companies to invest in their employees, communities, customers, and the environment through its equity stake. If more people moved their index money to there, it could actually make a difference.

Scary-Ad5384

Tudor Jones had a ESG fund called JUST..now it seems to have lost the ESG label..

S3lls

Any investment firm will offer you ESG portfolio option. Even the basic ones with roboadvisors.

DJSlaz

Define “responsible.” Is it to maximize returns over the long haul, say, for retirement? Is it to foster some personal or social goal? If a “social or ESG” type of fund has lower returns which negatively impacts your financial security, is that responsible? Responsible is a vague term, especially wrt investing. Lots of funds tried to jump on the ESG bandwagon, at least here, but it was all just feel-good marketing nonsense, with subpar results, and that led to a lot of skepticism. Your investment strategy and goals are yours, so invest in whatever assets you feel make the most positive impact for you, whether that’s for the environment, social welfare, or your own financial situation.

Millionaire2025_

Just google ESG

Redditaccount2322

I did a brief amount of DD. Enough to realize this isn’t even an unprofitable tech company, it’s a non-revenue generating materials company. Non-competitive? In what sense? Their competitive advantage is that they use a patented recycling technology but are they even cost competitive compared to conventional PP producers? We’re also entering a new administration that prioritizes domestic oil production which would lower the input costs for traditional plastics manufacturing. The same administration also cares a lot less about ESG. Is PCT even cost competitive to traditional manufacturing? Literally this company is impossible to analyze because their profitability is a black box. What are their margins? What is their revenue at capacity? Likelihood to reach capacity? Etc. Good luck with your play - not for me but definitely high risk, high reward.

Homefree_4eva

VOTE is a passively managed fund that provides exposure to large-cap US stocks. The fund encourages transformational change in the public companies it holds by applying proxy voting guidelines and engaging in dialogue with management. VOTE does not promote socially responsible investing by excluding companies based on any ESG criteria. Instead, the fund favors actions that encourage companies to invest in their employees, communities, customers, and the environment through its equity stake. The market-cap-weighted index is composed of 500 of the largest stocks from a universe composed of US companies from any sector.