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Frequently Asked Questions: |
What companies would I be avoiding if I invested Terror-Free?
If you're an individual investor that chooses to invest Terror-Free, Empowerment Financial Group will employ the increasingly standard national definition for Terror-Free investing: exclusion of companies with active, non-humanitarian ties to Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea.
Are companies doing business in terrorist-sponsoring countries breaking the law?
The majority of publicly traded companies that do business in terrorist-sponsoring states have legal, commercial ties to these countries and are not known to be directly supporting terrorism. In fact, the U.S. government would not allow you to invest in any company that has a known, direct link to terrorism.
If these companies are not breaking the law or directly supporting terrorism, what is the purpose of a Terror-Free investing strategy?
Terror-Free investing is not a matter of legality - it is a question of whether an investor wants to invest in companies that do business with countries that sponsor terrorism.
From a moral and political standpoint, Terror-Free investing is a way for investors to stand in support of the established foreign policies of the U.S. Government regarding state sponsors of terrorism and help to encourage policy or regime changes within these countries. Terror-Free investing sends a strong message to public companies that their decision to do business in countries such as Iran, Syria, Sudan and North Korea is morally reprehensible to those who might otherwise invest. Ultimately, these companies will feel the effects of reduced investment and subsequently suspend or cease their business dealings with terror-sponsoring states. Hopefully, this will result in financial pressure to make positive policy changes.
For example, the National Iranian Oil Company is dependent on foreign energy companies to effectively and efficiently explore and develop its oil fields. Once developed, Iranian oil fields produce revenue that becomes available to the Iranian government, a major state sponsor of terror. As an investor who opposes continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and support of terrorism by Iranian leaders, you can refuse to invest in oil companies that do business with Iran. In so doing, the ability of the National Iranian Oil Company to develop new wells is weakened and the flow of money from oil exports to the Iranian government is restricted. With their chief source of national revenue now in danger, the Iranian government might then consider changes to their policies on terrorism and nuclear proliferation.
Whether a Terror-Free strategy is designed with values or risk mitigation in mind, investors have every right to invest in these firms but are choosing not to for reasons that have nothing to do with the law.
Explain how Terror-Free investing could reflect one's views on terrorism and security.
For many investors, Terror-Free investing is a way to register their opposition to the sponsorship of terrorism or pursuit of weapons of mass destruction by Iran, Sudan, Syria, and North Korea. Additionally, some investors may also pursue a Terror-Free policy to register their opposition to the human rights violations that occur in these countries and in the case of Sudan, the genocide of its people. As long as these countries continue such objectionable policies, many investors do not want to invest in companies that are viewed as providing direct benefit to those governments via their
business activities.
Many view Terror-Free investing as a means of sending a collective message: "We do not approve of your countries' stance on terrorism, the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and human rights. Furthermore, we will not support your dangerous ideologies with our money."
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