Khaosai Wongnatthakan
Overall, I’d say that 2022 will likely go down in history as the year that ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing died. Not only did most ESG investors (e.g., universities, public pension plans in blue states, etc.) grossly lag the overall stock market, since fossil fuel firms had the best earnings growth and price gains, but ESG has hurt BlackRock, Jim Cramer, Kevin O’Leary, and other noted investors.
The SEC is still trying to force companies to disclose their ESG activities, but this is a complicated and subjective process. The fact that S&P Global kicked Tesla (TSLA) out of its ESG index and replaced it with Exxon Mobil (XOM) earlier this year further dilutes and complicates how companies earn their ESG scores.
Also, in one of my podcasts, I broke my silence on the FTX (FTT-USD) crypto collapse. With $3.1 billion in creditors now looking for money in the FTX bankruptcy, this Ponzi scheme is only expected to get worse. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was at the White House at least twice this year. He was well-known by many members in Congress as well as SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who taught cryptocurrencies at MIT. The fact that Bankman-Fried was the second-biggest donor to the Democratic Party in this cycle (after George Soros) and pushed ESG policies may explain why he was so welcome in Washington, DC.
Complicating matters further, FTX speculated with client funds via Alameda Research, led by Caroline Ellison, daughter of…
