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PaperclipPerfector  9d ago (text post)   25740 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 25, 2024

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The numbers seem completely wrong. Bloomberg found that $7tn in AUM was in funds where ESG was “mentioned” in the prospectus. That could be three lines in dozens of pages at the height of the ESG boom. A much smaller fraction. In any case, that a prospectus contains the buzzword ESG doesn’t mean for one second that core allocation / portfolio management decisions are made for ESG / DEI reasons.

That could be three lines in dozens of pages at the height of the ESG boom. A much smaller fraction

So? We know from academia that merely having a sponsor with a particular interest is enough to bias a study, even if the money ostensibly comes with no strings attached, which is why we require to disclose conflicts of interests. But suddenly, when in comes to the corporate sector of all places, the standard of evidence is supposed to be set at direct funding for specific activities?

The video I mentioned above of Fink directly talking of forcing companies to have change effectively counters the idea of the guy as an inconsequential centrist.

The reality is that Fink is still pushing ESG and also he responded to the backlash by limiting to an extend how much he pushed it.

Downplaying the ESG issue and excusing Fink helps the DEI agenda.

It isn't happening and it isn't (much of) a problem is how the real ESG problems enlarge. There is a woke/stockholder capitalism model that promotes a DEI agenda where there is pressure to be ESG compatible.

With all the downplaying and accusations of people being conspiracy theorists and all in their head, it is as if things change just magically. It isn't Moloch. It is people like Larry Fink. In fact things change more if people don't notice and downplay and less in that direction and can even reverse if they notice and oppose it.

The numbers seem completely wrong. Bloomberg found that $7tn in AUM was in funds where ESG was “mentioned” in the prospectus. That could be three lines in dozens of pages at the height of the ESG boom. A much smaller fraction. In any case, that a prospectus contains the buzzword ESG doesn’t mean for one second that core allocation / portfolio management decisions are made for ESG / DEI reasons.

Maybe I am wrong but it seems to me that ESG funds means ESG etfs while the bigger figure is ESG assets. For example, if Microsoft is considered ESG then it counts fully in the bigger figure but only to the extend it is part of ESG funds in the smaller figure.

If ESG assets are a sizable part of the global assets then that matters however. ESG corporations are at least much more likely to have DEI but also policies such as with the AI if big tech companies that are culturally far left.

Moreover, if a pro ESG organization like Blackrock manages assets in a fund that isn't ESG, that doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't be bringing their influence in a pro DEI direction. Influencing things in such direction doesn't mean they need to call this ESG To be doing it. And due to backlash they have made statements of rebranding as the term has become too charged, they say.

There is also ESG lending incidentally given to companies that pass these criteria.

Additionally that 7 trillion can matter too because organized minorities that are pushy can often get people to go along with them over larger groups that are less forceful and don't push a singular agenda. Which is why backlash and institutions turning away from Blackrock is useful in stopping the likes of Fink from forcing the changes that he wants to make.

With all the downplaying and accusations of people being conspiracy theorists and all in their head, it is as if things change just magically. It isn't Moloch. It is people like Larry Fink. In fact things change more if people don't notice and downplay and less in that direction and can even reverse if they notice and oppose it.

This. Recently I was thinking about all the effort that various "intellectual" movements put into basically saying that any thing that happened was the inevitable result of material conditions, technological progress, or whatever else that can be invoked plausibly and give the explanation an aura of inevitability. It's like a whole bunch of people internalized that quip about "creating other new realities, which you can then study too", or are repeating it deliberately so that others internalize it.

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