Isn't sustainability supposed to be something good? A target for companies to pursue?
Not for everyone, apparently.
While major corporations as varied as Dow Inc., Berry Global Group and Ford Motor Co. publish environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports to indicate what they are doing to enhance cleaner production and better employee and community responsibility, there are also investors out there specifically targeting "anti-ESG" investments.
Bloomberg writes that Columbus, Ohio-based Strive Asset Management, for one example, launched this year and already has $250 million in assets. Its Strive U.S. Energy ETF operates under the New York Stock Exchange ticker symbol DRLL. As that name implies, it's an investment fund to encourage drilling and other energy sector activities. (Strive's website claims the fund offers "everyday Americans a way to invest in the stock market without mixing business with politics." But mixing politics with business seems to be exactly the point the fund is pursuing, if you ask me.)
I'm no investment guru, nor am I qualified to speak to whether ESG efforts by big corporations will actually make a difference. All I know is that I'm not going to be surprised if we soon start hearing some financial backers calling for less spending on sustainability. Based on the rapid embrace of carbon-neutral manufacturing and other sustainability efforts, though, I will be surprised if major corporations actually agree to back off of their ESG efforts.