James Fishback, CEO and co-founder of Azoria, tells Fox & Friends First about a new ETF investing in anti-DEI companies and new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) goals.
A US-based investment firm is offering a new way for Americans to exclude companies from their investment portfolios that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives over bottom lines.
“I think it will be part of President Trump’s historic mandate, which is to criticize these companies, and to criticize government practices that base hiring on race and gender rather than skill and merit,” said James Fishback, co-founder and CEO of Azoria.Fox and friends first,” Monday.
“Our new ETF coming out in 2025 will criticize these 30 companies not just for being unethical, but for engaging in value-destroying behavior that hurts shareholders,” he added.
Fishback recently announced the launch of its own exchange-traded funds that will include all S&P 500 stocks — except for three dozen stocks that allegedly use DEI hiring targets.
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Some of these names not included in the ETF are Starbucks, Best Buy, Vanguard, and BlackRock. In a recent New York Post op-ed, Fishback explained his position that companies that hire on the basis of skill and merit will outperform those that hire on the basis of race and gender.
The Azorias Meritocracy ETF (ticker “SPXM”) will exclude at least Starbucks, Vanguard, Best Buy and BlackRock. (Getty Images)
“Look, if you stick to hiring based on race and gender and not merit, your stocks will continue to underperform. And our ETF will call you out,” the co-founder and CEO reiterated to Fox News’ Todd Perot.
“And what we’re going to do is we’re going to exclude those companies that are in the S&P so that investors can own companies that want to hire the best and the brightest, regardless of what they look like.”
Starbucks represents one An obvious exclusion option is Azoria’s Meritocracy ETF (ticker “SPXM”), as Fishback noted that the coffee giant first released its desired timeline for DEI in 2020.
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“They have announced that they want to achieve 30% racial and ethnic diversity. What does that have to do with making coffee profitably in America?” He said. “You hire the best and the brightest no matter what they look like. This is how you put employees and shareholders first.”
“Over the past five years, the S&P 500 is up almost 100%. Starbucks is up just 12%,” Fishback noted. “Espresso machines and Wi-Fi are not the problem. People are the core of its business.”
Change starts at the top for Fishback, who called on Starbucks’ newly appointed CEO to step back from some of the “woke” brand equity.
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“Brian NicolI have a lot of respect for him. He turned around Chipotle, and he can start turning around Starbucks tomorrow if he wants, but he has to get rid of these hiring quotas and recommit to meritocracy.”
While the ETF’s opening date and full slate of stock picks have yet to be announced, “To be clear, we won’t drive these anti-meritocratic companies out forever,” Fishback wrote in his op-ed.
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