- Former JPMorgan Chase banker Daniel Grant has created "unwoke" ETFs and index funds.
- His firm has funds focused on companies with conservative stances on issues such as guns.
- Grant said ESG investing is a tax on profits, which should be a company's main focus.
A former JPMorgan Chase banker launched owns firm focused on investing in "unwoke" companies.
Daniel Grant, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the president and CEO of 2ndVote Advisors. According to a Bloomberg Businessweek article titled "Anti-Woke ETFs Are Pitching to Conservatives Mad at Corporate America," he is tired of the progressive politics of "woke" companies and is hoping to tap into the millions of voters who backed Donald Trump in the last presidential election.
The firm, according to its website, is reaching out to conservatives, Libertarians, and Reagan Democrats who don't want to "compromise their values for a return on investment."
It offers a range of products including exchange-traded funds and index funds, like the "Society Defended Index" that targets companies that don't support actions against the Second Amendment. Another index fund, the "American Freedoms Index," focuses on protecting the First Amendment.
Grant said the firm is politically neutral and said companies should be focused on making money first, Bloomberg wrote.
In an interview with Insider, Grant said, "Some investors love the social justice activism of corporations and some don't. We have no problem with people investing in support of an ESG agenda if they so choose. The problem is can people choose?"
Grant said investing that prioritizes ESG, aka environmental, social, and governance, "is a mechanism to tax profits" and hurts companies' brands. He pointed to Coca-Cola and Facebook (now Meta Platforms) as examples.
In April, Insider reported that a fund called the "American Conservative Values ETF" boycotted companies like Twitter, Nike, and Disney that supported left-wing causes. Since President Joe Biden took office, the fund has slightly beaten the broader market.