Wilshire - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

Wilshire is Medium Risk.

Wilshire 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. Wilshire 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:

Wilshire integrates ESG into its business practices, tying ESG into its investment practices. From its Wilshire ESG policy: “Wilshire is committed to dedicating resources to ESG to support our internal efforts as well as to support our clients on their respective ESG journeys” (1). The company is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis, decision-making, and other business practices (2)(3). However, Wilshire has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (4).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

Wilshire 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:

Wilshire appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its promotions and leadership composition. From its Wilshire DEI and Diverse-Owned Manager Initiative report: “Wilshire is proud of our contributions to lead peers in promoting manager diversity and progress made” (1). Wilshire offers unconscious bias and systematic inequality training to its employees (2). The company does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (3)(4).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Wilshire supports DEI within its business practices, hosting a DEI Committee (1). Wilshire supports DEI within its business practices. From its Life at Wilshire: “We are committed to our rules and guidelines designed to foster, cultivate and preserve a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging” (2). Wilshire supports ESG within its business practices. From its ESG Policy: “ESG is a firm priority for Wilshire. Wilshire is committed to determining which dimensions commonly associated with ESG investing are important to each client” (3). Wilshire is a member of the Institutional Investing Diversity Cooperative which promotes diversity in institutional asset managers (4)(5).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Wilshire partners of “with a diversity expert to provide education and guide open conversations about bias, race, equity and inclusion” and works “with diversity-focused professional groups through educational and philanthropic endeavors as well as serving as a corporate sponsor” (1) Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Wilshire using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (2).

Criteria:

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

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

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