San Francisco, June 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adasina Social Capital (“Adasina”), an investment and financial activism firm that serves as a critical bridge between financial markets and social justice movements, today announced the launch of a new “Civil & Voting Rights” screen as part of its Social Justice Investment Criteria.
The new screen identifies companies making disproportionate contributions to political campaigns that oppose civil and voting rights legislation. A recent example of these campaigns is the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 (H.R.4), which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, but did not pass in the Senate. In 2022, a second attempt to pass the bill, attached to the Freedom to Vote Act (S.2747), also failed to pass in the Senate. Companies that meet the contributions threshold are excluded from the Adasina Social Justice Index (JUSTICE), which serves as the basis for Adasina public equity strategies. The Index is designed to support progressive movements for change, and includes a global universe of public companies whose practices are in alignment with social justice values.
Adasina created the Civil & Voting Rights investment screen using research and metrics from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Companies in violation of the new investment screen include, among others:
- Autozone Inc (AZO)
- Bok Finl Corp (BOKF)
- Calif Water Srvc (CWT)
- Coterra Energy (CTRA)
- Crown Holdings (CCK)
- FirstCash Holdings (FCFS)
- Fulton Financial Group (FULT)
- Automotive Hologic Inc (HOLX)
- Ii-Vi Inc (IIVI)
- Parker Hannifin (PH)
- Steris Plc (STE)
- Werner Ent (WERN)
- Zoetis Inc (ZTS)
- Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (GPI)
- Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR)
None of the companies listed are currently held by the fund.
“When we look at corporate participation in systemic racial injustice, we cannot ignore the role that many companies play in dismantling voting rights – which disproportionately impacts economically disadvantaged communities and communities of color,” said Rachel Robasciotti, CEO and Founder of Adasina. “Investors and consumers vote with their dollars every single day. At Adasina, we know that investors with social justice values want ever-increasing alignment between their investment portfolios and those values. This Civil & Voting Rights Screen is a critical tool expanding our ability to meet that call.”
What Can Investors & Advisors Do?
- Adasina Investors: The Adasina Social Justice All Cap Global ETF (JSTC) and Adasina separately managed accounts (SMAs) are the first to use this newly available data. Companies that violate our Civil & Voting Rights screen have been excluded from the JSTC ETF and Adasina equity SMAs, so investors in these funds do not need to take further action.
- Advisors & Institutional Investors: The Adasina Racial Justice Impact Dataset will be updated to reflect the Civil & Voting Rights data in the near future. If an institution invests in companies flagged for violations on this issue, we encourage them to use their investor power to demand that the company change its political spending. Institutions can also choose to exclude companies from their portfolio based on this issue.
- Individual Investors: Individuals should ask their financial advisor about the political spending of companies in their investment portfolios and consider excluding those companies that undermine civil and voting rights, or conduct shareholder engagement, including proxy voting, to urge those companies to change their political spending.
For more information about Adasina, visit adasina.com. To learn more about the Adasina Social Justice All Cap Global ETF (JSTC), visit adasinaetf.com. For media inquiries, contact media@adasina.com.
About Adasina Social Capital
Adasina Social Capital (“Adasina”) is an investment and financial activism firm that serves as a critical bridge between financial markets and social justice movements for the benefit of people and our planet. Adasina uses four interlocking levers to enact large-scale, systemic change: People, Investments, Campaigns, and Education.
We believe that community-sourced impact data should set the standards for how publicly traded companies participate in racial, gender, economic, and climate justice. With Adasina, investors can seek both financial and social returns that are accountable to the well-being of the people and planet they impact.
We are majority-owned and operated by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Adasina is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains client relationships throughout the United States. For more information visit www.adasina.com.
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Important Information
Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus. A prospectus may be obtained by calling (833)743-0080 or visiting www.adasinaetf.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.
The Adasina Social Justice Index (JUSTICE) is a global universe of public equities screened for social justice. The Index is built by applying a data-driven set of investment standards (the Adasina Social Justice Investment Criteria), designed to support progressive movements for change, to an all market capitalization collection of securities. The investment criteria focus on four intersectional issue areas: Racial, Gender, Economic, and Climate Justice.
Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. There is no guarantee that the Funds investment strategy will be successful. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market, and the fund's holdings and returns may deviate from those of its index. These variations may be greater when markets are volatile or subject to unusual conditions. The Fund is new and has a limited operating history. The Fund has a limited number of financial institutions that are authorized to purchase and redeem shares directly from the Fund; and there may be a limited number of market makers or other liquidity providers in the marketplace.
Foreign and emerging market investing involves currency, political and economic risk. Applying climate, economic, gender, racial, and movement aligned justice domain criteria to the Fund's investment selection process may exclude securities of certain issuers for non-financial reasons and therefore, the Fund may underperform the broader equity market or other funds that do not utilize similar criteria when selecting investments.
DISCLOSURE
Adasina Social Capital is a newly registered investment advisor and has no long-term track record that an investor may judge. Investments made in small and mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile and less liquid due to limited resources or product lines and more sensitive to economic factors. The securities of large-capitalization companies may be relatively mature compared to smaller companies and therefore subject to slower growth during times of economic expansion.
It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
Shares of the Fund are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.
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