My comment on this article:
“…the owners of Hobby Lobby do not appear to have any problem with profiting from the companies that manufacture the very products that so grievously offend their religious principles.”
Hobby Lobby is not “profiting” nor is it “investing” as you state in your title. 401k’s profit the employees not the company offering them.
As someone who has read a lot of mutual fund prospectuses, I also take issue that Hobby Lobby should have known what the mutual fund is investing in. What specific stocks funds invest in can change over time and the companies they are invested in are controlled by the fund manager not the company.
I would be interested to know when Hobby Lobby set up their 401k plans and when the “clean” funds you mention in your article became available. If they have been available since before Hobby Lobby set its 401k up, they should have offered them as a part of their mutual funds. If not, then I do not see why Hobby Lobby would have been aware of the funds. Most companies set up their 401ks and then monitor similar funds to see if they can get a better managing fee (something that contributes to losses not profits). If the two funds were not available, Hobby Lobby would not have automatically been monitoring for them.
I like to think I am pretty well informed about mutual funds, and I was unaware that those you mentioned existed. Perhaps the government should force all employers to offer those two funds to its employees, so that everyone can have the option of investing with their conscience? If it can force every business to pay for birth control, it certainly should be able to force every business to not tread on the religious beliefs of their employees by offering investment options that support them.
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