Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is calling for the repeal of the Second Amendment to allow for significant gun control legislation, but are investors willing to put their money behind gun free ETFs?
Stevens argued the Second Amendment had been warped by gun lobbyists at the National Rifle Association to extend beyond its original intent, stating in an essay on the New York Times website that District of Columbia v. Heller, “has provided the N.R.A. with a propaganda weapon of immense power.”
Related: ETFs That Deliberately Avoid Gun Exposure
In his essay, Stevens talks about the March for Our Lives events on Saturday. He said the demonstrations “reveal the broad public support for legislation to minimize the risk of mass killings of schoolchildren and others in our society.”
However, this broad public support is not necessarily reflected in where we put our money.
The Second Amendment & ESG Investments
According to Bloomberg Markets, “Since 17 people were gunned down in America’s latest mass killing, just $82 million of the $22 billion that’s flowed to exchange-traded funds went to the 50 or so products that put money to work in accordance with environmental, social and governance principles — like screening out gun stocks.”
Nuveen ESG ETF’s aim to align values with investments. They assesses issuers’ exposure to and management of ESG-related risks and opportunities, and involvement in controversial businesses or events including weapons and firearms.
Here’s a look at how they’ve been doing YTD according to Yahoo Finance 12 p.m. Eastern Time.
Nuveen ESG Core ETFs That Make a Positive Impact
- NuShares ESG US Aggregate Bond ETF (NUBD) down 2.35%.
- NuShares ESG Large-Cap Growth ETF (NULG) up 5.15%.
- NuShares ESG Large-Cap Value ETF (NULV) up 3.5%
- NuShares ESG Mid-Cap Growth ETF (NUMG) up 2.25%.
- NuShares ESG Mid-Cap Value ETF (NUMV) down .9 %.
- NuShares ESG Small-Cap ETF (NUSC) down 1.23%.
- NuShares ESG Intl Dev Mkts Eq ETF (NUDM) down .15%.
- NuShares ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NUEM) up 2.55%.
Martin Kremenstein, head of ETFs at Nuveen, which runs eight ESG funds, all of which exclude companies that earn 50 percent of their revenue, or more than $100 million, selling civilian firearms told Bloomerg Markets, “Investors have the choice. They have enough opportunity to buy the product out there. If there’s something they care about, they can make that decision.”