Economic War Room

Scott Shepard from the National Center's Free Enterprise Project joins Kevin Freeman in the Economic War Room to discuss the issues surrounding environmental, social, and governance investing and how it has been used to push political agendas to the detriment of shareholder value. Shepard highlights how large investment firms like BlackRock have shifted from offering ESG-specific investment vehicles due to their underperformance to continuing to use their influence to drive ESG goals. He also explains the role of proxy voting and how, traditionally, company shareholders have been sidelined in favor of "stakeholder" interests. To combat this, Shepard introduces the Proxy Navigator tool, a free resource for shareholders to vote in line with their interests and enforce corporate neutrality, aiming to maximize returns and defend the principle of free-market capitalism. Kevin Freeman emphasizes the importance of this tool for individual and institutional investors, offering a way to assert their voices against politicized corporate governance and re-establish the fiduciary standard eroded by the ESG movement.