WCM Investment Management

California
Diversified Financials

Corprate Bias Ratings

Risk Level:

Rating - Caution
Medium Risk

WCM Investment Management is an asset management firm headquartered in Laguna Beach, California. Since 2018, WCM is has been a partial subsidiary of Natixis, a French investment bank. Natixis, in turn, was acquired in 2021 by French banking conglomerate Groupe BPCE. Neither WCM nor Natixis protect employees from viewpoint discrimination. The CEO of Natixis has signed the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge, though the corporation has not taken specific policy stances or funded groups hostile to freedom of expression. The firm does adhere to the UN Principles for Responsible Investing and implement a "Green Weighting Factor," though neither of these policies explicitly deny services to specific industries or businesses. However, WCM and Natixis have not publicly fired customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs. For these reasons, WCM Investment Management receives a Medium Risk rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level
Rationale

Neither WCM Asset Management nor its parent company Natixis has publicly terminated business relationships due to political or religious differences (1). WCM has specific funds that do not invest in portfolios with significant stakes in high-risk industries such as firearms or gambling, though this is specific to those particular funds and not reflective of a larger company policy (2).

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

WCM does not have an independent charitable giving program. Natixis will match donations “to organizations that promote the common good and benefit the general welfare of the community. By definition, this excludes organizations that promote single sectarian, denominational, or religious activities” (1).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

WCM does not publish a nondiscrimination policy (1). However, Natixis does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Natixis CEO Timothy Ryan has signed the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge (1). Natixis has released a  “social and environmental responsibility” statement, committing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2). This includes a “Green Weighting Factor” whereby the investment firm publishes and manages its allocation into “green” investments (3). This metric does not explicitly require denying services to “brown” investments. However, the company has not given specific policy positions or taken a stance on socioeconomic issues (4). Natixis has released statements in solidarity with the LGBTQ community (5). 

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

WCM and Natixis have not made public donations to ideological groups hostile to freedom of expression (1).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
Rationale

WCM does not have an independent PAC (1). The Natixis US Holdings PAC donates in a bipartisan manner in accordance with business interests (2)(3).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
September 13, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

Generate Reports
Clear
Toast

This website stores cookies on your computer. These cookies are used to collect information about how you interact with our website and allow us to remember you. We use this information in order to improve and customize your browsing experience and for analytics and metrics about our visitors both on this website and other media. To find out more about the cookies we use, see our Privacy Policy.

Accept