It's all academic for me, as I consider index investing immoral. There are firms that I won't invest in for ethical reasons, and they are in most any index I might try to track (mungo, two posts thataway ^ )

Jim, thanks for the reassurance that I'm not the only one who thinks that way.

There's an anecdote in one of the Buffett biographies - probably the Lowenstein one, but I'm too lazy to look up - from thirty-plus years ago where Mr Buffett was at some fundraiser or some such.

I've forgotten the whole story, but the gist was that the emcee asked the audience something like, For the last fifty years, which security has continually increased its dividend AND has had the highest total return? (Again, I don't have the exact details close at hand but that was the general idea)

Anyhow, without a pause Mr B said "Philip Morris" (or maybe just "Mo")

The point is that then and now - cigar butts, value stocks, moats, whatever - MO had been right there as an obvious stellar buy, and for ethical reasons Berkshire had deliberately and steadily foregone investing in it.

To me, that was another nontrivial number of points in his favor which ultimately resulted in my directing most of my money for he and Charlie Munger to manage.

(My other substantial investment was Costco. Similar reasoning)

-- sutton
Yes, I'll stipulate that ESG investing is not much more than dumb and costly virtue signaling. But.