Starwood Capital Group - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Starwood Capital Group is Medium Risk.

Starwood often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Starwood occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	No Data
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	Lower Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled 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:

Medium

Rationale:

Starwood is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis, decision-making, and other business practices (1)(2)(3). The company integrates ESG into its business practices. From its Responsibility page: “Our approach to sustainability is guided by our firm’s mission and values and is realized through the integration of various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives across our corporate operations and throughout our investment portfolio. As a fiduciary, we have crafted an ESG integration strategy that focuses on value-creation and risk-mitigation initiatives that enhance our ability to create and protect value for our investors” (4). However, Starwood has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (5).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Starwood does not publish charitable giving guidelines (1)(2).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Starwood’s subsidiary, Starwood Property Trust, requires its employees to take discrimination training (1). The company appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its recruitment. From its Reponsibility page: “We are also a signatory to the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) Diversity in Action Initiative and collaborate with several third-party organizations that specialize in diverse recruitment” (2). Starwood is a signatory of the Institutional Limited Partners Association’s Diversity in Action Initiative, committing itself to specific actions that advance DEI within the governance and policies of the organization and the private equity industry more broadly (3)(4)(5). The company does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (6).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Starwood supports DEI within its business practices. From its Reponsibility page: “Example initiatives include:… Enhancing our firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy, conscious of the immense value that diverse teams and experiences bring to our firm and our industry” (1). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its Responsibility page: “Our corporate ESG initiatives support our firm’s resilient growth, make us better investors, and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive future for all our stakeholders” (2).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Starwood has not used corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (1).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Starwood’s PAC has been defunct since 2016 and the company does not engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).