Boycott vanguard

[BREATHEASYFINANCE]

Just wondering who is planning to follow this

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/student-activist-david-hogg-calls-for-boycott-of-vanguard-and-blackrock-over-gunmaker-ownership.html

[CordMcNally]

No way. I don't place the blame with the gun makers.

[ProximalLADLesion]

To me, there's a big difference between buying stocks and bonds from a company directly versus acquiring them on the secondary market. I own gun stock through my Vanguard index funds, but I'm not supporting Smith and Wesson through my ownership of their stock.

[SerrateAndDominate]

Not me.  Why not call to boycott Walmart and all sporting goods stores?  Heck, throw in the US Gov't while you're at it.  They're always buying guns and missiles and tanks

[ProximalLADLesion]

Well, you can't boycott the US government.

[Peds]

not even close.

[Dreamgiver]

I am annoyed that we keep hearing about this student while the african american student who saved lives during the shooting by using his body to shield other students is completely ignored by the media. In any case, I am happy to support companies that enable us to defend ourselves. Just my 2 cents.

[SerrateAndDominate]

ProximalLADLesion wrote:

Well, you can’t boycott the US government.

Click to expand...

Sorry forgot to add the eye roll emoji

[Hank]

This thread probably won't end well.

Still, it's surprising how few protests there are about the worthless school resource officer.  When the cops are seconds away...

[ENT Doc]

Who is more foolish - the fool, or the fool who follows him?

[The White Coat Investor]

For those who wondered if SRI could get even dumber....

[Zaphod]

CordMcNally wrote:

No way. I don’t place the blame with the gun makers.

Click to expand...

Well I'd blame gun makers before I'd blame the index that holds them before I'd blame a company that provides exposure to said index. Thats a lotta degrees away from blame.

He's a kid, and crazy if he thinks a company with 5T in AUM will even notice such a thing, but then again hes a kid.

[portlandia]

Pointless virtue signaling.

[preetishah]

Many years ago I was approached by a woman who wanted to do socially responsible investing and I looked into the possibility since I read and write on agnostic spirituality in my spare time and thought I could marry my two interests and specialize in the niche of socially responsible investments and financial planning.

I soon concluded that I wanted to keep the two completely separate - finances and social/moral activism.  I looked into funds and their holdings that were categorized as "socially responsible".  I realized that it was difficult to find anything that was 100% white and cruelty free - many of these specialty funds held companies that were accused of utilizing child or underpaid labor, polluting the environment through their manufacturing, testing products on animals, and so on.  The fund would make a certain claim (ie "Environmentally friendly companies only") but then they'd be caught for doing something shady in some other area.

The most powerful vote for social change is the pocketbook, no doubt, but I think it's better to refrain from making specific purchases (like meat, fur, guns, cruel cosmetics) rather than try to look for a fund that is 100% socially responsible in all areas.  I doubt more than a handful, if any, really exist, at least from my research many years ago.

Who are socially responsible funds good for?  Those types of funds really are best for someone who is against something very specific, and doesn't mind taking a financial hit to make their point, even if the companies they are supporting are guilty of other transgressions.

[artemis]

Timothy McVeigh used a Ryder truck packed full of explosives to blow up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.  We should therefore boycott Vanguard and Blackrock because they own funds that contain automotive industry stocks!

Why would anyone sane hold a company selling a legal product (that is not inherently defective in design) responsible for deaths caused by the deliberate criminal misuse of that product?  No, I'm not getting behind any such boycott (whether the product is alcohol, opiates, trucks, guns, or pressure cookers, to name only a few of the many legal items that could be called out...).