Dear Friends and Partners,

This past week, as flags waved and fireworks lit skies from coast to coast, America marked its 250th birthday. We celebrated this bold experiment in self-government and ordered liberty that has produced unprecedented prosperity and human flourishing. Our Semiquincentennial marks one extraordinary chapter and opens the door inviting us to commence our nation's next 250 years.

The question now before us is whether American enterprise will help write that future, or drift from the principles that made the first 250 years possible.

American companies are foundational civic institutions whose decisions shape employment, culture, speech, technology, and the daily lives of millions. With that influence comes responsibility. To embrace America today means choosing to strengthen the constitutional order, national cohesion, individual liberty, viewpoint neutrality, and merit that have defined our success. It means investing in American workers and communities rather than treating them as costs to minimize. It means protecting open debate inside company walls instead of policing lawful beliefs. It means rejecting imported ideologies that divide customers and employees in favor of the unifying promise that talent and character determine outcomes.

The Founders understood that unchecked power threatens liberty, whether it resides in government or private hands. Today’s corporations hold a command of resources and exert a reach that rivals sovereign authority. That power carries a moral obligation—not imposed by regulation, but prescribed by civic honor—to align with the values that allow free enterprise to thrive. Free markets remain the greatest engine of prosperity ever created, yet capitalism detached from responsibility to the nation that sustains it is a distortion of the American tradition, not its fulfillment.

As we launch our country's next 250 years, the invitation is clear. American companies can lead by example: building with long-term confidence in our people, defending the freedoms that make innovation possible, and measuring success not only by quarterly returns but by whether their work makes the country stronger and better. This is the standard that built the republic and the companies that helped it flourish.

At 1792 Exchange, we exist to help businesses answer that call with clarity, courage, and conviction. We are encouraged by the conversations we are having with business leaders from coast to coast and the actions we are seeing from businesses demonstrating a sincere desire to get back to business. In addition to the Buttonwood Brief, our new 1792 Insights will highlight important news and updates as we work alongside our partners and allies engaged in this important work. 

The next chapter of our great American story is still unwritten. American business has the power and the opportunity to help ensure it is written in the spirit of the first 250 years.

Thank you for standing with us in this work.

Best regards,

Doug Napier

Executive Chairman & CEO

New From 1792 Insights

As ESG-related practices have come under increasing scrutiny in the United States and abroad, newly released data paints a clearer picture of the current state of ESG investing. Two realities stand out:


1. Investors are heading for the exits.
2. A handful of the asset managers who built their platforms around ESG are just changing the sign on the door.
   

Perhaps the clearest example of the ESG exodus lies in the investor movement away from ESG mutual funds. These funds have bled $65.7 billion since 2022, roughly 20% of their average assets. Additionally, new fund launches have collapsed from 116 in 2021 to just nine last year, and BlackRock has slashed its support for ESG shareholder proposals from 40% in 2021 to less than 2% (7/358) in 2025. Even the 2026 proxy season backs this up: no ESG proposal won majority support.

But this does not mean ESG will disappear. Many of its most committed proponents are doubling down, pursuing ESG through less visible channels, or lying low until a more favorable political and regulatory environment emerges.