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Fed retirement funds invested in sanctioned companies

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by G8trGr8t, May 22, 2023.

  1. May 22, 2023 #1
    G8trGr8t

    G8trGr8t Premium Member

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    Can't make this up...did someone have to decide if fed gubmnt employee funds should be able to invest in sanctioned companies. Is this compliance failure or ???

    Chinese firms that threaten US security can get cash from federal employees

    Millions of federal employees can invest in Chinese companies sanctioned by the U.S. government via its flagship retirement plan, even though these companies have been branded a danger to national security or are accused of profiting from forced labor or other human rights abuses, Newsweek has learned

    Since June 2022, the federal government's employee retirement plan—the largest in the world with $720 billion in assets—has offered its 6.8 million members the option to invest     some of their savings in an account containing about 5,000 mutual funds, some of which have holdings in Chinese companies that are on at least nine U.S. government sanctions or watch lists, according to an exclusive analysis for Newsweek by Washington D.C.-based consulting firm Kilo Alpha Strategies, using data from the Coalition for a Prosperous America
     
    • Informative Informative x 1
  2. May 22, 2023 #2
    channingcrowderhungry

    channingcrowderhungry Premium Member

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    Bottom of a pint glass
    I'd guess Hanlon's Razor on this one.
     
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  3. May 22, 2023 #3
    wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    There's the inherent foolishness and ineffectiveness of sanctions in a nutshell
     
  4. May 22, 2023 #4
    l_boy

    l_boy 5500

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    It sounds like you are able to invest in thousands of mutual funds similar to most brokerages. Some of these funds are probably index funds. I’m not a big fan of a government retirement plan limiting investment options based on political agendas. Next they will ban ESG funds, then funds with companies that have DEI, or don’t have sufficient DEI, etc.
     
  5. May 22, 2023 #5
    Gatoragman

    Gatoragman GC Hall of Fame

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    That damn Trump......... Oh wait a minute. this has been since 2022. Oh well that damn orange god and his cult!!! I'm sure he is getting richer by it.
     
  6. May 22, 2023 #6
    vaxcardinal

    vaxcardinal GC Hall of Fame

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    Yep, they opened up additional options for us but i'm satisfied with the standard index fund offerings they had before so did not look into directing my retirement investing into these other options.
     
  7. May 22, 2023 #7
    WarDamnGator

    WarDamnGator GC Hall of Fame

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    5000 mutual funds offered, with mutual funds holding up to 1000 different stocks ... whatever investment was made in this company was probably very watered down ... but still a bad look for the program to not check for this and remove those mutual funds from their offerings...

    Edit ... I also wonder if these mutual funds are available to regular investors, can anyone do back door investments in sanctioned companies via mutual funds?
     
  8. May 22, 2023 #8
    G8trGr8t

    G8trGr8t Premium Member

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    one would hope that the rules for any fund offered in the US stock market would be that they would be required to divest themselves of any sanctioned companies with x days of sanctions being announced
     
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  9. May 22, 2023 #9
    WC53

    WC53 GC Hall of Fame

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    Are the Chinese invested in the top 500? Of course. A quagmire of poppycock