- BlackRock and Vanguard are pushing it all

Investment firms like BlackRock and Vanguard are 'forcing' companies like Bud Light and Target into woke marketing campaigns, claims ex-Anheuser-Busch exec

• Anson Frericks accused institutional investors of pushing ideology on firms
• Pointed the finger at BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard 
• READ MORE: Target loses $12B in market valuation in 14 days 

By Dailymail.com Reporter

A former Anheuser-Busch executive has claimed that institutional investors are pushing left-wing ideology on the companies they invest in, spurring recent controversies like the ones that engulfed Bud Light and Target.

Anson Frericks, a co-founder of Strive Asset Management who previously spent a decade at Anheuser-Busch, made the claim in an interview on Tuesday on Fox News. 

'You just have to follow the money. Take a look at BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard -- they manage $20 billion worth of capital,' he said. 

Frericks said a lot of the money managed by institutional investors comes from big pension funds like those of the state of California, which put ideological pressure on the money managers. 

'They -- State Street, BlackRock, Vanguard -- they have to commit to ESG, diversity, equity and inclusion and adopt firm-wide commitments that they therefore then force on to all of major company in corporate America,' said Frericks.

Anson Frericks, a co-founder of Strive Asset Management who previously spent a decade at Anheuser-Busch, blamed marketing controversies on institutional investors