Our new Committee to Unleash Prosperity study of proxy voting behavior by large investment firms finds that the majority are violating their fiduciary duty to their clients and putting political ideology over achieving the best returns for investors. The study is featured in the Wall Street Journal today.
The study ranks the 40 largest money management firms – from Fidelity to State Street to Blackrock – on their proxy voting on ESG resolutions at shareholder meetings of the companies their clients own stock in. We examine the 50 most intrusive ESG shareholder resolutions – such as bans on fossil fuels and racial quotas for hiring. All of these resolutions were OPPOSED by company management and are incidental to, or in most cases harmful to, shareholder returns.
Our goal is to alert investors – from mom-and-pop investors to billionaires – to which companies are playing politics with their retirement income. This may lead to investors moving their money from woke investment firms like State Street and UBS to companies that focus on achieving the best returns. The list of firms that received an A grade includes Dimensional, Vanguard, and Fidelity.
We will update this report card every year – and these firms are now on notice that someone is watching their proxy voting behavior.
As the study notes, most Americans want to get the best return on their lifetime savings. They don’t want their money put at risk by money managers who are trying to save the world.
Read the full study here: https://www.