When Vivek Ramaswamy, the crusader against “woke capitalism”, announced a run for president this week, he resigned from active involvement in Strive, the anti-ESG fund manager he founded.
His investors and co-workers are nevertheless pressing ahead with plans to provide an “anti-woke” alternative not just to index fund giants BlackRock and State Street but also to proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis.
Ohio-based Strive markets itself as a provider of exchange traded funds for investors who believe that companies have become too involved in societal issues such as racial equity and climate change. That cause has been taken up by some of the most visible Republican politicians, including Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor widely expected to make his own presidential run.