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It'd be nice if it were easy to buy a Vanguard ETF but modified to either avoid specific companies or set to create incentives for certain types of companies.

It'd be nice if it were easy to buy a Vanguard ETF but modified to either avoid specific companies or set to create incentives for certain types of companies. Like a company could get an outsized weight if it has a more diverse executive team or compensated them less than %N00 of the average worker. Just to give passive investors some sort of tool to nudge companies into better behavior (as defined by their aggregate preferences).

twblalock 7y ago
There are some ETFs that focus on "ethical" and "socially responsible" companies. I don't think Vanguard has any. DSI seems to be the biggest one.
- dmoy 7y ago
  > I don't think Vanguard has any. VFTSX
  - eppp 7y ago
    Closed to new investors.
    - dmoy 7y ago
      "Closed" like all their investor funds which were replaced by the cheaper admiral funds. You wouldn't say vtsmx is closed, it's just replaced by vtsax. Same deal here. It's not actually closed. Just buy the admiral version instead, same thing but cheaper.
- awithrow 7y ago
  Vanguard just launched VEIGX https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/overview/veigx https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/overview/... as their environmental, social, and governance index fund.
  - twblalock 7y ago
    Thanks, I didn't know that. It's interesting that this is an actively managed fund. There are actually a few indices for this kind of thing but apparently Vanguard is not using them: https://www.msci.com/esg-indexes https://www.msci.com/esg-indexes
  - webninja 7y ago
    ESGV as an ETF of this.
boardwaalk 7y ago
I've thought the same, specifically for green energy. The "logical" way would be to allocate some money to one of the green mutual funds -- but those are typical pretty high ER. And I'm not sure be desire to try to be green-ish overcomes that. A customizable ETF/mutual fund would awesome. But I wonder what the hurdles are technically/legally...
thatoneuser 7y ago
Like the idea in general, but I do not agree that diverse executive teams should be incentivized. That's discriminatory.
- paxys 7y ago
  Why do you feel that is discriminatory?
  - intopieces 7y ago
    I'm not the user you are responding to, but the general view of people who make this comment is that it discriminates against people are who are well-represented on the boards of financial and technology firms. Which is true, because all forms of hiring are discrimination. Business discriminate against people who don't have the qualifications that they believe will positively impact their business. If the user you responded to has reason to believe that a certain company has hired certain individuals who are not qualified to do the job they were hired for, I encourage her to say that. But it's not enough to say the practice is blanket good or bad. There are just too many variables to account for.
    - rosege 7y ago
      I believe the discrimination that thatoneuser is objecting to is discrimination based on things that someone has no control over such as gender and skin color. This is typically whats used as the basis when people say they want to increase diversity. I would guess that thatoneuser does not have an issue with discrimination and diversity based on what someone can change such as their education and experience.
      - thatoneuser 7y ago
        This seems pretty accurate to what I had in mind
    - thatoneuser 7y ago
      Qualifications are fine. That's merit based hiring. Saying you don't have the right genitals or your skin isn't the right color and thus you don't deserve the job is wrong. Assuming that's what op meant by adversity as I rarely hear adversity referring to learned skills.
emckay 7y ago
I quit my job a couple weeks ago to start a company that does exactly this. If anyone is interested in learning more, feel free to reach out at [hn-username]@greengovernance.org.
runamok 7y ago
Not an index fund but Motif let's you buy a basket of securities with different "themes". I have always thought investing in companies based on the ratio of worker salaries to C level salaries would be very interesting.
- mruts 7y ago
  Why do you think there’s alpha there?
aantix 7y ago
Vanguard’s target date funds automatically rebalance to ensure they keep the same asset allocations.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
deepeedubs 7y ago
Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) Vanguard ESG International Stock ETF (VSGX) Vanguard Social Index Admiral shares (VFTAX) All are open. The old Social Index Investor shares are closed.
beavisthegenius 7y ago
That's the opposite of passive investing.

twblalock 7y ago

There are some ETFs that focus on "ethical" and "socially responsible" companies. I don't think Vanguard has any. DSI seems to be the biggest one.

dmoy 7y ago
> I don't think Vanguard has any. VFTSX
- eppp 7y ago
  Closed to new investors.
  - dmoy 7y ago
    "Closed" like all their investor funds which were replaced by the cheaper admiral funds. You wouldn't say vtsmx is closed, it's just replaced by vtsax. Same deal here. It's not actually closed. Just buy the admiral version instead, same thing but cheaper.
awithrow 7y ago
Vanguard just launched VEIGX https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/overview/veigx https://investor.vanguard.com/mutual-funds/profile/overview/... as their environmental, social, and governance index fund.
- twblalock 7y ago
  Thanks, I didn't know that. It's interesting that this is an actively managed fund. There are actually a few indices for this kind of thing but apparently Vanguard is not using them: https://www.msci.com/esg-indexes https://www.msci.com/esg-indexes
- webninja 7y ago
  ESGV as an ETF of this.

boardwaalk 7y ago

I've thought the same, specifically for green energy. The "logical" way would be to allocate some money to one of the green mutual funds -- but those are typical pretty high ER. And I'm not sure be desire to try to be green-ish overcomes that. A customizable ETF/mutual fund would awesome. But I wonder what the hurdles are technically/legally...

thatoneuser 7y ago

Like the idea in general, but I do not agree that diverse executive teams should be incentivized. That's discriminatory.

paxys 7y ago
Why do you feel that is discriminatory?
- intopieces 7y ago
  I'm not the user you are responding to, but the general view of people who make this comment is that it discriminates against people are who are well-represented on the boards of financial and technology firms. Which is true, because all forms of hiring are discrimination. Business discriminate against people who don't have the qualifications that they believe will positively impact their business. If the user you responded to has reason to believe that a certain company has hired certain individuals who are not qualified to do the job they were hired for, I encourage her to say that. But it's not enough to say the practice is blanket good or bad. There are just too many variables to account for.
  - rosege 7y ago
    I believe the discrimination that thatoneuser is objecting to is discrimination based on things that someone has no control over such as gender and skin color. This is typically whats used as the basis when people say they want to increase diversity. I would guess that thatoneuser does not have an issue with discrimination and diversity based on what someone can change such as their education and experience.
    - thatoneuser 7y ago
      This seems pretty accurate to what I had in mind
  - thatoneuser 7y ago
    Qualifications are fine. That's merit based hiring. Saying you don't have the right genitals or your skin isn't the right color and thus you don't deserve the job is wrong. Assuming that's what op meant by adversity as I rarely hear adversity referring to learned skills.

emckay 7y ago

I quit my job a couple weeks ago to start a company that does exactly this. If anyone is interested in learning more, feel free to reach out at [hn-username]@greengovernance.org.

runamok 7y ago

Not an index fund but Motif let's you buy a basket of securities with different "themes". I have always thought investing in companies based on the ratio of worker salaries to C level salaries would be very interesting.

mruts 7y ago
Why do you think there’s alpha there?

aantix 7y ago

Vanguard’s target date funds automatically rebalance to ensure they keep the same asset allocations.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

deepeedubs 7y ago

Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV) Vanguard ESG International Stock ETF (VSGX) Vanguard Social Index Admiral shares (VFTAX) All are open. The old Social Index Investor shares are closed.

beavisthegenius 7y ago

That's the opposite of passive investing.