Study: Insurance companies hold billions in fast food stock

[AtticaFlinch]

Study: Insurance companies hold billions in fast food stock.

I realize it's smart corporate policy to have a diversified stock portfolio, but does this seem like a conflict of interest to anyone else?

Are they hedging their bets? Are they trying to make their money coming and going? If so, are we going to later find out they hold billions in stock for urn and casket manufacturers too?

[TheNiche]

Study: Insurance companies hold billions in fast food stock.

I realize it's smart corporate policy to have a diversified stock portfolio, but does this seem like a conflict of interest to anyone else?

Are they hedging their bets? Are they trying to make their money coming and going? If so, are we going to later find out they hold billions in stock for urn and casket manufacturers too?

So according to the article, MassMutual owned $367 million in fast food stock. And according to MassMutual, they have approximately $42 billion in assets under management. So that's about 0.87% of their holdings.

And according to the article, Northwestern Mutual owned $422 million in fast food stock. And according to Northwestern Mutual, they have approximately $47 billion in assets under management. So that's about 0.90% of their holdings.

Meanwhile, McDonalds stock has a market capitalization of over $74 billion...so even if all of these insurance companies that offer life, disability, or health insurance products (bearing in mind that many of them probably also have other insurance-related product lines) put all of the fast food investments cited by this study into only McDonalds...they STILL would only own only 2.6% of that one fast food company.

There is no conflict of interest because none of these companies has significant influence over the strategy or the share price of these companies. Furthermore, even if there were a public conflict of interest, would it not be more plausible that they would be pushing to remove unhealthy products from fast food menus? How would it help them to directly or indirectly contribute to a higher mortality and illness rate among their insurance customers; healthy customers are their bread and butter.

[AtticaFlinch]

There is no conflict of interest because none of these companies has significant influence over the strategy or the share price of these companies.

All of your points are good points, and perhaps you're right about there being no conflict of interest, but still something seems awry. If it's not a conflict of interest, then certainly it still presents an ethical conflict. Just because they can't affect the decision-making process at McDonald's doesn't mean they aren't sharing in the profit from the artery hardening of the very people whose health they're supposed to be protecting.

I don't know. I'm not taking a definitive stance on this yet. It just seems... filet-o-fishy.

[TheNiche]

All of your points are good points, and perhaps you're right about there being no conflict of interest, but still something seems awry. If it's not a conflict of interest, then certainly it still presents an ethical conflict. Just because they can't affect the decision-making process at McDonald's doesn't mean they aren't sharing in the profit from the artery hardening of the very people whose health they're supposed to be protecting.

I don't know. I'm not taking a definitive stance on this yet. It just seems... filet-o-fishy.

Again, if there is a conflict of interest, it would be because the insurance companies would want to make fast food less scrumptious so as to prop up their business model...which would, incidentally, allow them to achieve the same profits at lower product prices.

Myself, however...if I thought that they had that kind of power, I'd say that that was against the public interest. I want my trans-fatty Whataburger.

[AtticaFlinch]

Again, if there is a conflict of interest, it would be because the insurance companies would want to make fast food less scrumptious so as to prop up their business model...which would, incidentally, allow them to achieve the same profits at lower product prices.

Myself, however...if I thought that they had that kind of power, I'd say that that was against the public interest. I want my trans-fatty Whataburger.

I'll concede your trans-fat as long as I can be appointed to a death panel.

[TheNiche]

I'll concede your trans-fat as long as I can be appointed to a death panel.

Bring it on, delicate flower.

[AtticaFlinch]

Bring it on, delicate flower.

No worries, Niche. I won't condemn you after Whataburger and Thunderbird have turned your arteries as brittle as Dick Cheney's heart and your liver as spotted as his soul.

I'm only going after people's grandmothers.

[RedScare]

No worries, Niche. I won't condemn you after Whataburger and Thunderbird have turned your arteries as brittle as Dick Cheney's heart and your liver as spotted as his soul.

I'm only going after people's grandmothers.

Finally, someone else gets the axe. They've been going after my whiskey and cigs for years. It's about time they went after other peoples grandmothers.