An anti-woke investment firm will launch a new ETF that avoids DEI-focused companies
James Fishback, Azoria CEO and co-founder, tells ‘Fox & Friends First’ about a new ETF that invests in companies fighting DEI and the goals of the new Department of Government Operations (DOGE).
One US-based investment firm is offering a new way for Americans to weed out companies in their portfolios that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives above bottom lines.
“I think it’s going to be part of President Trump’s historic mandate, calling out these companies, calling out government practices that discriminate against people based on race and gender regardless of skills and qualifications,” Azoria founder and CEO James Fishback said on “Fox. & Friends First,” Monday.
“Our new ETF coming out in 2025 will call out these thirty companies not just for misconduct,” he added, “but for pursuing destructive behavior that harms shareholders.”
Fishback’s company recently announced the release of its exchange-traded funds that will include all stocks in the S&P 500 – except for a dozen that are said to use DEI’s recruiting targets.
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Some of those names not included in the ETF are Starbucks, Best Buy, Vanguard and BlackRock. In a recent op-ed for the New York Post, Fishback clarified his position that companies that hire based on skills and merit will outperform those that hire based on race and gender.
The Azorias Meritocracy ETF (ticker ‘SPXM’) will cover at least Starbucks, Vanguard, Best Buy and BlackRock. (Getty Images)
“Look, if you commit to hiring based on race and gender and not merit, your stock will continue to underperform. Our ETF will call you,” the founder and CEO reiterated via Fox News’ Todd Piro.
“And what we’re going to do is we’re going to take those companies out of the S&P so that investors can own the companies that want to hire the best and the brightest, even if [what] guys.”
Starbucks represents one of the obvious options for an exit from Azoria’s Meritocracy ETF (ticker ‘SPXM’), as Fishback points out that the coffee giant has previously released a timeline it wants for DEI in 2020.
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“They announced that they want to achieve 30% of different races and ethnicities. What does that have to do with making coffee profitably in America?” he said. “You hire the best and brightest no matter what they are. That’s how you put employees and shareholders first.”
“Over the past five years, the S&P 500 is up almost 100%. Starbucks is only up 12%,” Fishback noted. “Espresso machines and Wi-Fi are not the problems. People are the core of its business.”
The change starts at the top with Fishback, who has asked Starbucks’ newly appointed CEO to divest some of the brand’s “wake up” shares.
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“Brian Niccol, I have a lot of respect for him. He turned Chipotle, he can start turning Starbucks tomorrow if he wants, but he has to get rid of these rental rates and commit to respect.”
While the ETF’s opening date and the full list of stock picks have yet to be announced, Fishback wrote in his op-ed: “To be clear, we will not be forever dismissing these anti-meritocratic companies.”
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