Vert Asset Management - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Vert Asset Management is Medium Risk.

Vert Asset Management is Medium Risk. The company 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. The company 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	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	High 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:

Vert Asset Management is currently under investigation by the House Judiciary Committee since June for ESG integration: “[T]he Committee released an interim staff report titled, “Climate Control: Exposing the Decarbonization Collusion in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing,” which details direct evidence of a “climate cartel” consisting of left-wing activists and major financial institutions that collude to impose radical environmental, social, and governance goals on American companies. The Committee continues to examine whether existing civil and criminal penalties and current antitrust law enforcement efforts are sufficient to deter anticompetitive collusion to promote ESG-related goals in the investment industry. The over 60 asset managers with membership in NZAM must answer for their involvement in prioritizing woke investments over their own fiduciary duties” (1)(2). The company integrates ESG into its business practices, tying ESG into its financial services. The company stated they are “an ESG advocate within financial services” (3). The company is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis, decision-making, and other business practices (4)(5). However, the company has not canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (6).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Vert Asset Management does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Verst Asset Management appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its recruitment, hiring and leadership composition. From its Diversity and Inclusion Statement: “The private sector can foster change through better business practices; specifically, when hiring, training, mentoring, and shaping company culture, in order to promote equal opportunities and improve socioeconomic outcomes” (1). The company does not publish a nondiscrimination policy (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Vert Asset Management is part of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, committed to carbon neutrality with its investments by 2050 (1)(2). The company is committed to net zero emissions by 2050 (3). The company is aligned with the Paris Agreement, which entails a commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 (4). The company is a member of Climate Action 100+, committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 (5)(6)(7). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its Engagement page: “Vert practices engagement in three distinct ways: 1) through investment stewardship, 2) as an ESG advocate within financial services, 3) as a business” (8). The company supports DEI within its business practices. From its Diversity and Inclusion Statement: “We recognize, and prize, the value of having diverse skills in our organization and feel strongly that more firms could benefit from more diverse backgrounds in their workforce” (9).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Vert Asset Management funds the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global environmental disclosure framework (1). The company funds Global Real Estate Engagement Network (GREEN), a collaboration of shareholders that engage both listed and non listed real estate companies on climate risk management (2). The company funds IIGCC (The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change), a European membership body that brings together institutional investors to address climate change (3). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (4)

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Vert Asset Management does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).