Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole argues that ESG has negatively affected investors’ bottom line and discusses how the company is seeking to shake up the industry.
Corporate America has increasingly been influenced by left-wing political movements, ESG-focused investing, DEI practices and stakeholder capitalism, all of which are costing Americans money, Matt Cole, CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Strive Asset Management argues.
The firm, originally founded by entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, has about $1.6 billion in assets under management.
Cole sat down with FOX Business to discuss how the company is changing the face of asset management and fighting back against woke corporate policies.
Matt Cole, CEO of Strive Asset Management (Matt Cole / Fox News)
“There’s a need for an asset management company, and really a financial services company like Strive, because ESG, DEI and other non-financial interests have been pushed into corporate America at the expense of the everyday investor. So, people buy ETFs, they buy mutual funds, they entrust their money with the wealth manager. And unbeknownst to them, a social and political agenda is being pushed into corporate America with their money,” he warned.
“So, right now we have 13 different ETF exchange traded products that trade on the New York Stock Exchange and are available to purchase in someone’s Schwab account, Fidelity account through their financial adviser, potentially through their 401(k) program, depending on your 401(k) program.”
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Cole believes the European model of stakeholder capitalism poses a serious threat to American investors and their ability to retire on schedule.
“So, upstream of the ESG and DEI debate is a debate of what is the purpose of a for-profit corporation?” Cole said. “American capitalism, free-market capitalism … or moving towards the European model of stakeholder capitalism. … And what’s happened is that most large asset managers have made public statements of support for moving American capitalism towards the European model.
“If you look at the returns of European equities relative to American equities over the last 40 years, what you’ll find is that there’s an over 2,000% return difference. It’s about 3.5% per year. But that compounds year after year after year.
“And if you think about that, the average person starts their career in their 20s. They want to retire in their 60s. That’s 40 years. Two thousand percent return difference is the difference between being able to retire securely or not. … And Strive’s belief is American capitalism outperforms.”
BlackRock offices in New York City (Andrew Burton/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Cole is optimistic about future pushback against woke corporate policies.
Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and a former 2024 Republican presidential candidate. (Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
“So, ultimately, … for almost every single large publicly traded company, if you look at their largest shareholders — BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard, Fidelity, Envestnet, but you can go down and down the list — they push this stakeholder capitalism agenda.
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“And, ultimately, what you see is that this is a tax that these corporations bear, and they do so because of the pressure that places like CalPERS and that a fringe minority of American citizens pushed into the asset management industry.”
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