Matt Cole: ‘A social and political agenda is being pushed into corporate America’ with investors’ money

American companies are increasingly involved in left-wing political movements, ESG-focused investments, DEI practices, and Stakeholder capitalism, All of this is putting a financial strain on Americans, argues Matt Cole, CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based Strive Asset Management.

The firm was originally founded by entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and has approximately $1.6 billion in assets under management.

In an interview with FOX Business, Cole spoke about how his firm is changing the face of asset management and fighting back against conscious corporate policy.

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“The reason we need asset managers, and really financial services companies like Strive, is because ESG, DEI and other non-financial interests are being forced on Corporate America at the expense of ordinary investors. So people are buying ETFs, buying mutual funds, putting their money with asset managers, and unbeknownst to them, a social and political agenda is being forced on Corporate America along with their money,” he warned.

“Currently, we have 13 ETF exchange-traded funds that trade on the New York Stock Exchange that you can buy in your Schwab account, in your Fidelity account through a financial advisor, or through your 401(k) program depending on your 401(k) program.”

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Cole believes the European model of stakeholder capitalism poses a serious threat to American investors and their ability to retire on time.

“So upstream of the ESG and DEI discussion is the debate about what the purpose of a for-profit corporation is,” Cole said. “American capitalism, free market capitalism … or a move to a European model of stakeholder capitalism. … And most of the big asset managers have publicly stated that they support moving American capitalism to a European model.”

“If you compare the returns of European and American stocks over the last 40 years, you’ll see a difference in returns of over 2,000%. That’s about 3.5% per year. But that’s compounded every year.”

“And if you think about it, the average person starts their career in their 20s and wants to retire in their 60s. That’s 40 years. A 2,000 percent difference in returns is the difference between being able to retire comfortably or not. … And Strive believes that American capitalism is superior.”

BlackRock New York City office (Andrew Burton/Getty Images/Getty Images)

Cole is optimistic about future backlash against woke corporate policies.

Vivek Ramaswami, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and former 2024 Republican presidential candidate; (Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

“So at the end of the day, if you look at almost every large public company, if you look at their largest shareholders – BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard, Fidelity, Envestnet, you go down the list – they are driving this stakeholder capitalism agenda.

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“And at the end of the day, this is a tax paid by these corporations, a tax paid by them through agencies like CalPERS and the pressure that a minority of the American people have imposed on the asset management industry.”