Morgan Stanley Wouldn't Invest In Itself Under New Strategy

Investment giant Morgan Stanley is offering clients a new portfolio option that will only invest in companies with at least three female directors, in a move engineered by a financial adviser who said she is "frustrated by the fact there are so few women on boards."

Eve Ellis, the investment adviser and head of the bank's Matterhorn Group investment unit, told The Huffington Post that the portfolio is an “investment for investors and clients that want to have a social impact.”

But based on those guidelines, one company in which Ellis' unit will not be investing is Morgan Stanley itself. Ellis will only put money into companies with three or more women on their corporate board; Morgan Stanley’s board currently has only two female directors.

Asked about that quandary, Ellis told The Huffington Post, “There are many companies, and our goal is to move the needle in corporate America.” She declined to comment specifically on the message her strategy may be reflecting about her employer.

“Obviously this is one portfolio strategy of several. This is something that came as an offering to our clients,” Ellis said.

“It’s not a strategy of the firm. It’s a strategy of the Matterhorn Group at Morgan Stanley,” Tricia Nestfield, a spokesperson for the bank, added.

Ellis, who described herself as a “feminist and an investment adviser” in an interview with The New York Times, cited research that suggests companies perform better when they have at least some women in their board when describing her investment thesis.

The debate over gender parity at the corporate board level is not a new one. Earlier this year, the UBS CEO Andrea Orcel said the lack of women within the upper echelons of his bank was a "shortcoming." And last year, the European Union approved a contentious proposal that mandated at least 40 percent of a company's non-executive directors be women.

That momentum has not extended to Wall Street. Joining Morgan Stanley, the boards of competitors JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs only have two female members. Citigroup has only one female director.

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Alex Jones, Radio Host Who Wants Piers Morgan Deported, Says Government Creating Gays With Chemicals

We've heard a lot of ridiculous things about where LGBT people come from and what they're capable of (see the slideshow below), but Alex Jones' claim that the government is creating gays with chemicals takes conspiracy theories to a new level.

The InfoWars radio host grabbed the spotlight in recent weeks after slamming CNN's Piers Morgan for making comments against pro-gun advocates and he even went so far as to try to get him deported back to the UK. Now Jones is raising eyebrows again after a series of clips from several years ago began to recirculate on the Internet this week.

In the videos he claims the government is "encouraging homosexuality with chemicals so that people don't have children" and that he has the documentation to prove it. Upon cutting open a juice box to show the plastic membrane supposedly filled with said chemicals he concludes, "After [little boys] are done drinking your juices, [they're] ready to go out and have a baby... [they're] ready to put together a garden of roses... [they're] ready to go put lipstick on..."

Jones is also worried about MSG in Kettle Chips and fluoride in spring water.

In another clip he states that troublesome chemicals are seeping into water ways and even turning male frogs into female frogs. Research has shown that chemicals found in common weed killers have been proven to "feminize" male frogs, but it is not clear if the same effects could take place with humans.

While we're still waiting for experts to come up with a definitive answer as to why people are gay or straight (and we may never know), we've never come across anyone -- other than Jones -- who thinks it is due to drinking government-engineered juice boxes. What do you think?

(h/t Queerty)

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Morgan Stanley Fined $5 Million Over Handling of Facebook IPO

Part of your Web Presence & SEO Strategy is a Good Idea by Krista LaRiviere, gShift Labs

Investment bank, Morgan Stanley, has been fined $5 million by the US state of Massachusetts for its role in the botched Facebook initial public offering (IPO).

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