Over the past decade, we have seen an explosion in so-called "ESG" mutual and exchange traded funds. These funds seek to only include investment in companies that are "clean" from a Environmental, Social, and Governance perspective. On the surface it sounds good: who wouldn't want to invest in companies that treat people right, don't wantonly pollute the environment and are run justly?
The problem is, the ESG movement primarily became an avenue for pushing an activist agenda that sought to bring a kind of "human-created morality" in the corporate world that contradicted the closely held faith beliefs of many investors. Essentially, at it's core, ESG removes God from his rightful place and tries to put something else in its place. Interestingly enough, we're starting to see the cracks in the ESG movement (see "ESG Funds Shuttered Amid Political Backlash & Investor Scrutiny").
As Brett Johnson recently wrote about in his blog, the acronym ESG really needs to be flipped around to be GSE (God-Spirit-Ecosystem), where we put God first & center (including in our investments I might add) and we are led by the Spirit. Then, and only then, will the ecosystem/environment and social systems benefit and companies be governed rightly.