I saw this and what struck me was: How much of this ownership is in index funds controlled by BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street (not the only ones, but the largest).
There has been, for quite some time, a push from shareholder to stakeholder, in the corporate boardrooms around the world.
Shareholder capitalism’s rewards for innovation produced the modern world’s greatest inventions, including assembly lines, airplanes, air conditioning, computers, supermarkets, cell phones, and the internet (sorry Al G…not you). Shareholder capitalism built the companies that built America.
In 2019, the country’s most influential corporations signed the Business Roundtable statement, which attempts to redefine the purpose of a corporation and explicitly reject shareholder primacy. They issued a statement redefining the purpose of a corporation to “promote an economy that serves all Americans.”
Europe has been doing this for years and look at the difference in the S&P 500 Vs the STOXX Europe 600 index. Compound annual growth rate of 10.48 vs 7.38 since 1993.
If you are investing in a company, don’t you want them to have your best interest at the heart of their decisions on how to legally maximize your investment gains?
ESG and DEI, if it is a primary goal, is not shareholder friendly… it is stakeholder friendly.
Index funds controlled by these large fund managers vote YOUR SHARES… Their votes are very influential in corporate governance and they are promoting ESG.
Profit or Woke… Why are you investing in the stock market?
