The following content is the first in a five-part series sponsored by the 1792 Exchange.
1792 Exchange CEO Daniel Cameron says ESG hurts consumers and shareholders alike. Businesses need to focus on producing high quality products, not pushing political agendas.
It seems like business heads and corporate board rooms feel more accountable to woke activists than to their shareholders and consumers. In a recent interview with Breitbart News Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow, the 1792 Exchange’s Daniel Cameron uncovers the roots of this phenomenon and what we can do about it.
Cameron explains that it has been the steady work of the left to embed themselves into our corporations. In his former role as Kentucky attorney general, Cameron says, “I constantly was looking for ways to push back against the environmental social governance [ESG] movement that has in many ways, invaded our corporate culture and communities. It not only has invaded our corporate culture, it’s also created some really bad decision making and ultimately hurts our corporations… and so what we are trying to do in 1792 Exchange is to get businesses back to focusing on business. We want to get them back to neutral.”
The 1792 Exchange, Cameron says, is so named because in 1792, the Buttonwood agreement was established that ultimately created the first recognized stock exchange in this country. His goal is to reestablish trust in our free enterprise system.
“If you think about this concept that we need to reestablish trust and free enterprise in the marketplace,” Marlow observed, “it feels like in America, this would be automatic. We would want that. But that’s not the case anymore because of the power of the ESG movements and the DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] movement.”
“We know in large part that the left has entrenched themselves into our academic institutions and into the bureaucracy of government,” Cameron explains. “The last bastion of the left was to focus on corporate America.”
Now we see left-wing wokism in the decision making at the top level of public companies. For example, we saw Disney crusade against a reasonable policy in Florida to protect kids, while at the same time promoting themes inappropriate for children in their productions. The result: box office flops.
“So, we have got to make sure that the public at large knows what corporations are doing because ultimately it is hurting their bottom, line and it is hurting shareholders,” Cameron notes. And these shareholders could include teachers, firefighters, and police officers whose pension systems could be buying Disney stock. It’s important to make sure these Americans “have the most money in their retirement accounts that they possibly can,” Cameron says, but for that to happen, Disney and other “woke” companies must improve their performance to maximize profit for shareholders instead of pushing extreme agendas.
Cameron notes that corporate wokeness not only hurts business results, it also is a negative for consumers holding traditional values.
“You know, Alex, Michael Jordan said famously in the ‘90s, ‘Republicans buy sneakers, too.’ It perfectly captures this idea that corporations really shouldn’t be figuring out ways to alienate parts of our communities across this country. They need to be focused on how they can best serve customers from across the nation, regardless of what someone’s political affiliation is or their political philosophy…. Corporations need to be about producing high quality products, not pushing extreme political agendas.”
But how do we get business back to the center?
The 1792 Exchange is pushing back against this woke ideology using a data-based approach with their “Spotlight Bias Reports,” which include:
Corporate Bias Rating Database – The leftwing Human Rights Campaign tells companies that the more woke things they do, the better. The 1792 Exchange says the opposite: the more you focus on business, the better. This database rates nearly 3,000 companies on how much of a risk they are taking by engaging in woke policies. The ratings help you determine the likelihood a company will cancel a contract or client, or boycott, divest, or deny services based on viewpoints or beliefs. It alerts customers and shareholders to what corporations are doing.
Proxy Database – This includes a data table for state officials, showing the percentage of pro-ESG and anti-ESG shareholder proposals that each state’s pension funds supported in 2023, according to data from their investment managers. It also equips shareholders with information on controversial shareholder proposals that are coming up in shareholder meetings, so that they can be prepared.
Board Bias Database – If you’ve ever wondered why a corporation is making certain decisions to wade into political issues, it largely has to do with the board members at a public corporation or the C-suite executives. This database names them, their political affiliations, and their political contributions. Using this database, it’s easy to see how lopsided some corporations are when it comes to their leadership – heavily left-leaning, with little representation from the other side.
The information at 1792 exchange.com can help you decide where you want to do business as a customer or consumer and where you want to put your investments as a shareholder.
“It’s about equipping citizens with information about where they want to do business,” Cameron says. “It’s about protecting the return on investment to shareholders, making sure that we’re maximizing that.”
“I’ve said often 1792 Exchange wants to help corporations get back to neutral,” he adds. “So, if you are a CEO or if you serve on a board and don’t like your rating on [our Spotlight Bias reports] we want you to engage with us. We can help you get back to the middle, get back to neutral, get back to business.”
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