Ramaswamy: Hiring Should be Based on Merit—Not Race, Sex or Politics

The following content is sponsored by Strive Asset Management.

It’s time to restore the voice of everyday citizens in corporate America.

Strive Asset Management co-founder and executive chairman Vivek Ramaswamy says hiring should be based on merit – not race, sex, or politics – and that shareholders deserve a voice.

The largest asset management companies in America – BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard – we believe have been using the capital of their clients to advocate for political agendas instead focusing on creating value for shareholders. We think this could potentially hold back investor returns and even economic growth.

Now investors have an alternative through the Strive 500 Exchange Traded Fund (STRV). Strive Asset Management is a new financial firm that engages with corporate America in a constructive way. Strive’s message to the companies its clients own through their ETFs is simple: re-focus on producing excellent products and services to deliver better long-term financial results for shareholders.

The firm launched in 2022 with the backing of billionaire investors including Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman. It offers index funds on the New York Stock Exchange that mirror those put out by behemoths such as BlackRock and State Street. But while the established asset managers push the companies to fight climate change or become advocates for the cause du jour, Strive pushes for companies to avoid social and political agendas unrelated to providing excellent products and services to customers.

“What we’re doing is representing the voice of the actual shareholders. Not the institutions that claim to be the shareholders but their clients – the everyday citizens of this country,” Strive’s Vivek Ramaswamy said in an interview with Fox Business.

Strive launched its first Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), DRLL, in August. Its focus is on U.S. energy companies. The ETF has experienced “rapid success,” according to Bloomberg, with more than $320 million in assets already under management.  The idea is to provide a corrective to the pressure against fossil fuel energy production coming from asset managers pushing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agendas. Strive thinks oil companies should focus on producing oil and solar panel companies should manufacture great solar panels—and that this will deliver better long term financial results for shareholders.

Last week, Strive announced STRV, the Strive 500 ETF. It provides exposure to 500 of the largest U.S. corporations. The goal is to provide a counter-balance to the ESG-obsessed asset managers in the boardrooms of America’s biggest companies.

The company just released letters to the CEOs of Chevron, Apple, and Disney which can be found on strive.com.

In the letter to Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and the company’s board, Ramaswamy said he wanted to “liberate” the companies from the constraints “imposed on Chevron by its ESG-promoting ‘shareholders.’” Wirth publicly acknowledged Strive’s letter in a Bloomberg interview, and Ramaswamy had dinner with Chevron’s chief financial officer and head of investor relations.

In his letter to Disney, Ramaswamy told the company it should focus on being the world’s premier entertainment company without taking stances on divisive political issues. Disney’s favorability rating has plunged from 77 percent to 33 percent in a single year. Ramaswamy asked how it is in Disney’s best interest – or the interest of its stockholders – to take political positions unrelated to its business that alienate half of its customer base.

The letter to Apple focused on the company’s decision to conduct a “racial equity audit.” Ramaswamy argued that it is not in shareholders’ best interest to carry out this audit, which the board agreed to after meeting with activist groups like “Color of Change,” whose mission is to hold companies accountable for “white supremacy.”

For far too long, American investors have seen the asset managers they entrusted with their savings abuse that trust to push political and social agendas. Corporate America has acceded to the demands of these managers because they claimed to represent shareholders.

Now investors have a choice to invest with a company that will push back.  Learn more about the Strive 500 Exchange Traded Fund, STRV here.

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Important Information

Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus or summary prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call 855-427-7360 or visit our website at www.strivefunds.com. Read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Investments involve risk. Principal loss is possible.

STRV Risks. Large Capitalization Companies Risk. Large-capitalization companies may trail the returns of the overall stock market. Large-capitalization stocks tend to go through cycles of doing better – or worse – than the stock market in general. Equity Investing Risk. An investment in the Fund involves risks similar to those of investing in any fund holding equity securities, such as market fluctuations, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in stock prices. The values of equity securities could decline generally or could underperform other investments. Index Calculation Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the Index, including fundamental information that may be based on assumptions and estimates.  New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision.

DRLL Risks. Energy Sector Risk. The market value of securities in the energy sector may decline for many reasons, including, among other, changes in energy prices, energy supply and demand, government regulations and energy conservation efforts.

ESG investing is defined as utilizing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria as a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments.

The Strive ETFs are distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.