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Which Companies Do We Exclude?

Overview of product-based and conduct-based exclusion criteria.

By Sloane Ortel

Ethical Capital excludes companies associated with preventable harm. Our framework divides these into two categories:

Product-Based Exclusions (Section 2)

We reject entire business lines that are inherently harmful.

  • Harm to Living Beings: Factory farming, dairy, animal testing, fur and exotic skins, animal entertainment.
  • Weapons and Military Systems: Defense contracting, nuclear weapons, retail firearms.
  • Addictive and Harmful Products: Tobacco, alcohol, gambling, opioids, pesticides.
  • Fossil Fuels and Extractive Industries: Oil, gas, coal across the full value chain — upstream, midstream, downstream, and services.
  • Surveillance Technology: Surveillance hardware, forensic software, and infrastructure built for third-party deployment.

Conduct-Based Exclusions (Section 3)

We reject companies based on patterns of harmful corporate behavior.

  • Forced Labor and Trafficking: Coerced labor, child labor, modern slavery in operations or supply chains.
  • Worker Rights and Safety: Anti-union activity, discrimination, unsafe conditions, wage theft.
  • Conflict and Indigenous Rights: Complicity in armed conflict, occupied territories, indigenous rights violations.
  • Environmental Misconduct: Pollution, emissions, climate policy failure, water contamination.
  • Financial Crime: Securities fraud, corruption, tax avoidance, antitrust violations.
  • Consumer and Community Harm: Predatory lending, deceptive practices, externalized community costs.
  • Political Influence: Dark money, undisclosed political spending, lobbying to restrict essential services.
  • Information and Platform Harm: Misinformation, for-profit prisons, surveillance capitalism.
  • Regulatory Failures: Systemic compliance failures and governance breakdowns.

Material Impact

This substantially narrows our investable universe to companies that meet our fundamental ethical standards.

View Complete Screening Policy →

Exclusion from our investable universe does not constitute a recommendation against investing. Investment strategies involve risk of loss. Ethical Capital LLC (CRD #316032), a state-registered investment adviser in Utah. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

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