New anti-DEI index fund launches for merit-based hiring companies

A so-called “anti-DEI” index fund launched on Tuesday, giving investors an opportunity to invest solely in companies that engage in hiring based on merit, not demographic factors, according to its founder.

“It is the first ever index fund that is committed solely to meritocracy, so unlike a traditional S&P 500 ETF from BlackRock or Vanguard, we do not invest in companies that impose DEI hiring targets, Nike, Starbucks, Intel, Airbnb. There’s 37 in total and the reason why we don’t invest with them is that these are both a moral and a financial failure,” Azoria CEO and founder James Fishback told Fox News Digital.

BlackRock, whose Chief Executive Larry Fink said that DEI was embedded in “everything we do” in a 2021 letter to shareholders, has distanced itself from the controversial policies as of late, removing multiple references to DEI from its latest annual report in February. The mutual fund Vanguard has also softened its DEI stance and removed some of its guidance for U.S. companies to have women and minority directors. 

“Intel has a longstanding commitment to attracting, retaining, and advancing the best talent to innovate for our customers and strengthen our business. Our hiring and promotion practices follow a competitive and fair process in compliance with the law, and we do not use identity-based quotas,” an Intel representative told Fox News Digital in a statement, after Fishback named the company specifically.

James Fishback, who is an ally of President Trump, says that DEI hiring goals are bad for business.  (Azoria)

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Fishback is an ally of President Donald Trump and a former Department of Government Efficiency advisor who proposed mailing Americans stimulus checks based off of DOGE savings. He told Fox News Digital he launched the “Azoria Meritocracy Fund” in the hope of getting investors bigger returns than what they would get from ETFs that buy shares in companies that have DEI hiring quotas. 

To Fishback, his fund is not pursuing a political agenda, but just engaging in good business sense. 

“Research that we just published today shows that the 37 companies in the S&P 500 that we exclude from the Azoria 500 meritocracy fund underperformed the S&P by 19 percentage points over the last two years. It’s no surprise why, they prevent companies from hiring the best. They force them to hire folks who are not yet qualified, and lastly, they weaken employee trust and morale. All of that leads to lower stock returns in the long-term,” Fishback said.

“We’re making, really, a financial bet here that companies that hire on skill and merit will be more successful than companies that hire on race and gender.”

Fishback said that funds that invest in companies that have DEI hiring goals bring investors a lower return than companies that hire purely based on merit.  (Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images))

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Corporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies have been on the retreat since Trump took office in January. In the first days of his second term in office, Trump issued a series of sweeping executive orders targeting “illegal DEI” and prohibiting federal agencies from contracting with companies that engage in DEI hiring practices. He also ordered the federal government to probe nine companies to determine if their DEI initiatives violated federal law. 

DEI policies were widely embraced by corporate America following the death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter riots in 2020. However, since Trump’s executive orders were issued, a wave of corporations have begun scaling back or eliminating their DEI programs. Disney, Facebook, Google and Paramount have all made significant changes to their DEI policies and eliminated many of the most controversial elements, including aspirational hiring goals in some cases. 

Fishback told Fox News Digital that his fund only excludes companies that engage in DEI hiring goals, which he says hurt companies by shifting their focus from business priorities and towards political goals. He said he determines which companies have DEI targets in their hiring based off of public statements, internal research done by the fund and meetings with executives at various companies. 

DEI has been on the retreat in corporate America since Trump returned to office.  (AP)

“Whether it’s DEI targets or ESG mandates, anytime you subvert the natural inclination of a business to do what’s in its best interest to then do something that is not in its best interest to appease political overlords, or to fuel a political agenda, that hurts one, the shareholders, two, the stock price, and three, it hurts the very people that you’re often saying that you’re helping,” Fishback told Fox News Digital.

According to the investor, companies excluded from the fund can always join later if they abandon their DEI hiring goals. He pointed to Best Buy as a company that was initially excluded but is now a “proud member” of the Azoria Meritocracy Fund.

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Starbucks, AirBnB, Nike and Best Buy did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment. BlackRock and Vanguard declined to comment for this article.