Main Street investors are increasingly aware of a problem with big Wall Street firms. Those firms have accumulated too much money. With that money comes power. And they use that power to chase progressive agendas. It has to change. 

Strive Asset Management is a startup firm that’s poised to take on the Goliath Wall Street firms. They have the leadership, they have the backing, and they have a platform for changing the game.  

But first, let’s review why this is so important. The asset management industry grew rapidly these last few decades because of a simple innovation. 

When Big Wall Street Went On Steroids  

Financial legends like Warren Buffet frequently say that the S&P 500 is the best long-term investment for casual investors. His recommendation is to simply invest in the index and hold. However, it costs tens of thousands of dollars to purchase all 500 stocks. Most retail investors (everyday people who invest in the stock market) don't have enough money to do this.   

Wealth management firms had the solution. They would buy the shares, bundle them up, and sell those shares in a bundle. These securities are called ETFs and mutual funds. When you buy an ETF or mutual fund, you aren't actually buying any stocks directly, just a share of the stock bundle that the firm built. The investment firms own the actual stocks and all of the shareholder rights associated with them. 

Financial specialists started making all kinds of ETFs. Some represent stock indexes like the S&P 500 and others represent stocks in specific industries or companies of a certain size. Everyday investors were thrilled with this low-cost method of diversification, and ETFs boomed! According to the Wall Street Journal:  

Investors poured $705 billion into exchange-traded funds through the first seven months of the year, pushing 2021's worldwide tally to a record $9.1 trillion, according to data from Morningstar Inc.  

When you add it all up, it is easy to see how huge asset management firms like Blackrock, Vanguard, and State Street are "among the three largest shareholders in more than 80% of the companies in the S&P 500." And they abuse that power to push their own woke agenda that actually hurt Main Street Americans.  

Share Main Street Insiders

Jack Bogle was the founder of Vanguard and is considered the father of index funds. Yet, before his death in 2019 - and before the three big asset managers we’re as big as they are now - Bogle was increasingly concerned about the monster he helped create.

As Bogle noted in a 2018 Wall Street Journal article: 

Most observers expect that the share of corporate ownership by index funds will continue to grow over the next decade. It seems only a matter of time until index mutual funds cross the 50% mark. If that were to happen, the “Big Three” might own 30% or more of the U.S. stock market—effective control. I do not believe that such concentration would serve the national interest. 

Bogle’s concerns came true and the consequences were worse than he imagined. In recent years, largest asset managers have supported ill-advised ESG policies that increased energy costs and helped create shortages. And they supported woke policies and “equity audits” that divide and dehumanize company employees. Corporate America’s rapid transition to Woke Inc. would not have happened without cover and pressure from the big three.  

But change is coming.  

Enter Vivek Ramaswamy and Strive Asset Management 

Vivek Ramaswamy is an experienced biotech CEO who shows hustle that would make Gary Vaynerchuk weep. Perhaps all you need to know is Vivek got his degree at Yale Law while working full-time as a hedge fund partner. Vivek quit his biotech job to be unencumbered when discussing his concerns about trends in corporate America. You can read all about that journey in his bestselling book Woke Inc.  

Now Vivek has co-founded Strive Asset Management. In Strive’s own words: 

Strive aims to solve a fiduciary problem created by the three largest U.S. asset managers — BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street — which control over $20 trillion in assets, exceeding the total U.S. gross domestic product. These “Big 3” firms bear a fiduciary duty to advance the best interests of their clients. Yet in the name of “stakeholder capitalism,” they use their clients’ funds to exercise decisive influence over nearly every U.S. public company to advance political ideologies that many of their clients disagree with. They engage in coordinated efforts to enact a uniform social agenda across corporate America resulting in higher gas prices and other consumer harms, which Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich recently called “the biggest antitrust violation in history.” 

Strive offers a new alternative to the Big 3 and advances Excellence Capitalism, a new movement that leads American companies to focus exclusively on delivering excellent products and services to their customers, rather than mixing business with politics. Survey data suggest that most American consumers, voters and shareholders overwhelmingly agree with Strive’s approach over those of the Big 3 asset managers. Strive believes its approach will help revive true diversity of thought and restore true competition in American capital markets, a prerequisite for a well-functioning economy and democracy. 

Strive raised $20 million from prominent investors and entrepreneurs like Peter Thiel and Bill Ackman.  

They recently launched their first product, an energy index fund trading under the symbol DRLL. The ETF exceeded $100 million in assets under management within the first week of trading – with an average investment of under $5,000. That shows broad-based grassroots support.  

Vivek and his team won’t need to become the biggest firm in the industry to make a huge difference. Just having an alternative for index investing helps Main Streeters avoid the Goliath Wall Street firms. In addition, Vivek and Strive can use their media platform to raise awareness among Main Streeters about the importance of keeping their investment managers accountable.  

Vivek Ramaswamy @VivekGRamaswamy

Here’s an assignment for every American: Figure out who serves on your pension fund board. Ask them if your money was used to vote in favor of Apple’s “racial equity audit” or Chevron’s “Scope 3 Emissions Cap.” If it was, and you don’t approve, let me and @realchrisrufo know.

July 6th 2022

387 Retweets1,809 Likes

We’re confident this is the beginning of a movement, and we want to do our part. That’s why we launched MainStreetProxy.com. Our big, audacious goal is to see one million Main Street investors spend one hour per year engaging with America’s largest companies. That includes voting your shares, voting on shareholder proposals, and engaging with company leadership.  

When you combine the power of Main Street investors with the emergence of alternative asset managers like Strive, we can pressure America’s largest companies to support prosperity, security, and freedom for the country that made their success possible in the first place.  

This is the way.  

God bless and God bless America.  

-Jeff and Luke