Free Republic

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Ana Cabrera Reports,” Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry stated that green transition investment has been undercut by the fact that money managers “have a fiduciary responsibility, an obligation to the people they manage it for not to lose the money, but to produce returns on that investment.” And the fact that pension funds “are very careful about those investments in order to make certain they have the money to pay out to the pensioners who work for that money all their lives.” Kerry also said that he has urged those who manage large...

In tracking BLM contributions, we found many companies prioritizing ‘racial justice’ to the detriment of shareholders and employees.Most Americans will remember the first few years of the 2020s for the pandemic, the lockdowns, the layoffs, and the Black Lives Matter (BLM)-fueled riots. Shareholders will also remember them as a tempestuous time for the market. Many companies announced mass layoffs and cuts to dividends and share buyback programs. For example, Disney’s last dividend date was Dec. 12, 2019.But shockingly, as we’ve shown in our BLM Funding Database, companies contributed or pledged more than $83 billion to the BLM movement and related...

A growing wave of public pension administrators, business groups and labor unions are sending a message to Republicans looking to curb so-called “woke” investing: our money, our choice. Regulatory efforts to stop money from going to funds that consider environmental, social and governance issues, commonly known as ESG investing, have typically targeted big Wall Street asset managers. Now, public pensions are increasingly caught in the crosshairs and with them the retirement funds of teachers, librarians, firefighters and other public service employees. But while opponents of the anti-ESG restrictions are getting louder, their dissent hasn’t yet stopped the tide. ESG investing...

Another state on Thursday announced that it would begin divesting its assets currently managed by investment giant BlackRock, accusing it of “[leaning] heavily into Environmental, Social, and Governance standards.” “As Florida’s chief financial officer, it’s my responsibility to get the best returns possible for taxpayers. The more effective we are in investing dollars to generate a return, the more effective we’ll be in funding priorities like schools, hospitals, and roads,” Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, said in a press release. The divestment will involve “$2 billion worth of assets,” according to the statement. “As major banking institutions and economists...

For the most part, financial services companies erect employee bonus systems for one reason and one reason only: to maximize shareholder profits. However, a strange new occurrence is afoot in the financial services sector, wherein companies are no longer concerned with maximizing shareholder value—which is their fiduciary responsibility and reason for being—because they are more interested in lining their own pockets by aligning themselves with the latest woke investment scheme known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores. Take Mastercard for example, which recently announced it will begin “linking employee compensation to ESG goals.” According to Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach,...

Poor Coca-Cola. The company jumped on the woke train recently with a few moves that went public.First, Coca-Cola was outed for sending their employees to training on how to be “less white.” It turned out that this was not internal training. Instead, LinkedIn provided it through a learning link and the company assigned it. The backlash to this disclosure caused LinkedIn to remove the training, but plenty of vendors are available to conduct it internally if that is Coke’s preference.Coca-Cola also sent a notification to their legal firms to tell them that they would monitor their outside legal teams’ diversity....

Bank of America will end its association with companies that provide prisoner and immigrant detention services at both the state and federal levels. The move comes amid growing public concern about the nation's border policies. A spokesperson said Wednesday that Bank of America (BAC) has discussed the issue with its clients that provide those services. While the bank appreciates "steps they have taken to properly execute their contractual and humanitarian responsibilities," it ultimately decided to "exit the relationships." "Lacking further legal and policy clarity, and in recognition of the concerns of our employees and stakeholders in the communities we serve,...

Nike Launches Ad Campaign Starring Colin Kaepernick HEDGE 2018/09/03 8:25:22 PM WallSt, ZeroHedge Tweet In a move that will likely infuriate president Trump, and/or lead to a sharp decline in Air Max sales, on Monday afternoon Nike and Colin Kaepernick unveiled a new ad campaign featuring the controversial former NFL quarterback as part of the company’s 30th anniversary “Just Do It” ad campaign.The image, which Kaepernick tweeted out, shows a black-and-white closeup of the quarterback’s face and the words, “Believe in something. Even it if it means sacrificing everything. Just do it.” Believe in something, even if it means...

OK. So I forgot that today is Valentine's Day. Does that make me a criminal or something? Maybe in Minnesota. So I rushed right down to the store to buy my sweetie some chocolates. It was like when they had that news story about chocolate being an afrodes.....aprodez.....love potion for women. The men cleared out all the chocolate in the store that day. Yes sir.....miles and miles of empty shelves that day. You should have seen all the sad faces on the guys the next day. If I owned a turnip ranch, I'd just start a rumor that turnips made...

This year I wrote a column that argued it was time to start a debate about the definition of “sophisticated” investor. That was sparked by a saga bubbling in Italy, where investment banks have flogged numerous derivatives trades to local governments, and other entities (including convents) - and some of the deals are now turning sour, sparking law suits. Now, however, this issue of investor “sophistication” has become doubly fraught, for reasons that have nothing to do with Italian nuns. Earlier this week, two Democratic senators filed an amendment to the US financial reform bill, that seeks to impose a...

Everyone who is responsible for financial transactions and decisions that effect the wellbeing of others understands the term, fiduciary. There is a code of ethics and duty which governs that relationship. I will quote the on line Business Dictionary to help you understand this idea of fiduciary so you may see how essential it is in the conduct of business affairs: (bold is mine) Special relationship of trust and confidence which, in the words justice Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (1870-1938; US Supreme court judge from 1932 to 1938) is “something more than the ordinary honor of the marketplace … the very...

Hey everyone - This is not for me, but I'm trying to find out some options for a friend. It's possible they have a good case against their broker for negligence and breach of fiduciary responsibility. Anyone who's got some knowledge or background, could you please Freepmail me? Thank you.

In "Uncle Shariah" in the Washington Times, December 16, Frank Gaffney details why AIG's nationalization is so worrisome: The insurance giant AIG has lately become the poster child for corporate risk-taking, mismanagement and greed. Its unimaginably large losses, rooted in insurance it extended to financial companies engaged in subprime mortgage-backed transactions, have destroyed both AIG's corporate reputation and balance sheet. Indeed, but for the fact that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - who during his days running Goldman Sachs had extensive ties to AIG - deemed the insurance firm "too large to fail," the company would surely have gone under by...

...If a recent federal indictment that refers to Milberg Weiss is anything to go by, the trial bar has its Enron.... Sham "screenings" to round up asbestos plaintiffs, forum shopping for friendly juries, "coupon" settlements that enrich only lawyers and frivolous lawsuits have all become staples of today's tort system. Yet they have received almost no media, much less legal, scrutiny. ...The focus of the charges is retired Palm Springs lawyer Seymour Lazar, who seems to have had a second career as a plaintiff in Milberg Weiss lawsuits. From 1976 to 2004, Mr. Lazar and family members... served as named...