SEC Commissioner speaks out re "ESG"
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2019 11:05 pm
The op-ed piece linked below discusses the issue of proxy advisors allowing non-investment matters to harm returns of pension funds, etc.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-s ... latestnews
Glad to see the SEC commissioner speaking out against a harmful practice. From the op-ed:
"Peirce has one big grievance, which I share: Investment funds don’t stick to the knitting. Instead, many of them are “focused on non-investment matters at the expense of concentration on a sound allocation of resources to their highest and best use.”
By “non-investment matters,” she means precepts that fall under the rubric ESG, for environment, social, and corporate governance. Peirce’s targets were not individual investors but the institutions she was addressing that day — the funds that manage other people’s money, along with the proxy advisory firms that guide them.
It’s hard enough to build retirement assets by following sound economic, business, and financial principles. Throw in the vague ideas around ESG — which may include divesting whole categories like energy companies — and institutions risk serious harm to their investors."
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-s ... latestnews
Glad to see the SEC commissioner speaking out against a harmful practice. From the op-ed:
"Peirce has one big grievance, which I share: Investment funds don’t stick to the knitting. Instead, many of them are “focused on non-investment matters at the expense of concentration on a sound allocation of resources to their highest and best use.”
By “non-investment matters,” she means precepts that fall under the rubric ESG, for environment, social, and corporate governance. Peirce’s targets were not individual investors but the institutions she was addressing that day — the funds that manage other people’s money, along with the proxy advisory firms that guide them.
It’s hard enough to build retirement assets by following sound economic, business, and financial principles. Throw in the vague ideas around ESG — which may include divesting whole categories like energy companies — and institutions risk serious harm to their investors."