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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

How Financial Giant Morningstar Blacklists Companies That Help Israel Stop Terrorism

2022-07-05

[Free Beacon] A prominent financial services firm promotes divestment from companies that help the Israeli government combat Palestinian suicide bombers, according to an independent investigation conducted by a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Morningstar Inc., a financial research firm that advises investors, is accused in a new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) of downgrading companies that help Israel combat terrorism, including those that work on the country’s security barrier built to stop Palestinian suicide bombers from attacking cities. Ratings produced by Morningstar and similar research firms act as a primary guide for investors and can greatly impact how a company is valued.

The author of the FDD report told the Washington Free Beacon that Morningstar’s practices comprise a key pillar of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement—which wages economic warfare on Israel—and could force states with anti-BDS laws to cut ties with Morningstar.

Unilever just spent a year enjoying that attention... before they surrendered.

FDD concluded that Morningstar’s ratings are "driven by a quantifiable bias against Israel" and that the company "risks running afoul of numerous state statutes" meant to curb support for the BDS movement.

The focus on Morningstar stems from its 2020 acquisition of Sustainalytics, a research firm that rates companies based on their social values. Following Morningstar’s acquisition of Sustainalytics, watchdog groups including NGO Monitor and JLens accused Morningstar of allowing its research arm to promote the BDS movement through ratings that negatively impact companies working with Israel. These claims prompted the Illinois Investment Policy Board to initiate an investigation into the company’s practices. They are also fueling calls for at least 34 other states with similar anti-BDS laws to cut ties with Morningstar.

This is where we remind the business world that there is a cost to playing games that annoy half the customer base.

Faced with concerns from its own shareholders, Morningstar insisted in March 2021 that it was not unfairly targeting companies that work with Israel. But the Illinois investigation into its actions prompted the company to hire an outside law firm, White & Case, to conduct an investigation into Sustainalytics’s business practices. That report was published earlier this month and touted by Morningstar as proof it does not discriminate against the Jewish state.

"This investigation concludes that Morningstar’s Sustainalytics products do not recommend or encourage divestment," the report reads.

Golly — the hired guns say what the hiring company wants said.

Posted by:Besoeker

#1

Seriously a customer of any financial services firm playing politics, social justice advocates has to be asking.

What if this company spent 100% of it's time doing what I hired them to do, how much better would my Investment Portfolio returns be?

Posted by: NN2N1 2022-07-05 07:01

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