Wind of Change

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 Klaus Meine and The Scorpions sing one of my favorite rock tracks, Wind of Change. The band recorded the song in 1990 as an anthem for the fall of the Berlin Wall (Nov. 9, 1989).  Today they sing it in support of the Ukrainian people and the fight against communism.

I follow the Moskva (Russian Navy Flagship vessel) down to Gorky Park (downtown Moscow)
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night, soldier passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world is closing in
And did you ever think
That we could be so close like brothers?
The futures in the air, I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change

Some 15 months ago, Patriot Asset Advisors penned our “Special Report”, How will ESG Impact Your Investments?  We believe, wholeheartedly, that this war on fossil fuels by the ruling class was a root cause of the disastrous investment year that was 2022.  I will not take the time to go into the details, but you can find our ESG article on our website: patadvisors.com.

Well, the wind has certainly shifted.  We are not ready to put the stake into ESG yet.  However, there are some encouraging signs.  Vanguard, once a proud participant in the ESG movement, walked away from the “Net Zero Asset Manager initiative.”  This group has over 300 financial firms as signatories with a Commitment to reduce investment in fossil fuels.  A complete list is attached to this letter.  You likely do business with companies on this list.

Again, we are all in favor of clean air and water.  I don’t believe the standard of living for all Americans should be in jeopardy over these policies.  In case the global elites have forgotten, China and India are building Coal-Fired power plants at the rate of 1 per week.

Over the past 80 years, we have witnessed countless examples of the dangerous power of groupthink, with examples from Hitler to Jonestown.  Of course, these representations are of the evil extremes, but groupthink can evolve in the investing world too as remarkable belief systems emerge – en masse – think ESG.
In the autumn of 1975, as the cooling night began to usher in turning leaves, things were stirring in Washington’s Mariner S. Eccles Building.  The building, housing the Federal Reserve, had quite the buzz as the Fed was preparing to report that the Money Supply (M2) had kissed $1T for the first time.

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