NeevaAI is another option for harnessing the power of the web through AI. ChatGPT gives me a constant busy signal. Plus, NeevaAI may actually have some advantages. Tired of our Alphabet/Google overlords, I have been trying out neevia search for a while and like it. CorpGov.net’s days of ranking #1-5 in any search for corporate governance […]
Ownership: Reinventing companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What by Corey Rosen and John Case should be read by every director on the board of public pension funds. I (James McRitchie) am planning to send a copy to all the board members of CalPERS once newly elected members take office next year. In celebration of […]
3/21 Jackie Cook: 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern – Register Jackie holds the position of Director, Stewardship, Product Strategy & Development at Morningstar, leading Sustainalytics’ ESG Voting Policy Overlay service. She previously held the role of Director of Investment Stewardship Research. Her research covers investor active ownership practices, proxy voting trends, and corporate governance. Jackie […]
2022 The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs (release). As You Sow and HIP Investor have done it again. Read it and weep. Then take action. Vote against these pay packages AND the compensation committee members. Also, vote for proposals aimed at disclosure and more equitable distribution of incentive shares. I filed several such proposals listed in […]
ESG Insider April 9 is the most recent S&P Global podcast. Co-hosts Lindsey White and Esther Whieldon interview the sponsors of several new proxy proposals. As a shareholder advocate trying to get the word out on my own proposals, I found it interesting and informative. Last season I participated in Tesla Investor Briefing 2020 AGM with […]
Exit vs Voice? (link) Which strategy is most effective in moving us in a positive direction? Although most investors, especially retail investors, appear focused on exit by moving to ESG funds, the authors conclude voice is the more effective tool. From the abstract: We study the relative effectiveness of exit (divestment and boycott) and voice […]
Experiences at Virtual Shareholder Meetings: Guest Post Dear Investors, I have conducted a study on how virtual shareholder meetings affect communication with shareholders, How Shifting from In-Person to Virtual Shareholder Meetings Affects Shareholders’ Voice. (more…)
ESG Options in DC Plans? Morningstar can help you find them. President Trump’s Department of Labor aims to limit ESG investing in retirement plans, although even law firms recognize the need for ESG research. Fund flows and investor interest remained high according to Morningstar’s research, even amid the year’s earlier market downturn. Insights from Morningstar discuss how the Presidential […]
Conservative TV and Corporate Social Responsibility. Again, public opinion is the driver. A 2017 Pew Research Center study found that 37% of Americans get their news from local television news. Only 28% get their news from cable TV, while 26% tune into network news. Sinclair Broadcasting expands by acquiring those trusted local TV stations and […]
Chat Rooms are the key missing ingredient at virtual shareholder meetings. Virtual-only shareholder meetings increased dramatically (from 286 in 2019 to 2,200 so far in 2020) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chat rooms before and after meetings would allow shareholders to interact informally with each other and with corporate representatives, as they do at in-person […]
How Shifting from In-Person to Virtual Shareholder Meetings Affects Shareholders’ Voice, Miriam Schwartz-Ziv‘s new paper recently posted on SSRN will be the subject of a virtual seminar held on Wednesday, Sept 2nd, from 11 AM-noon EDT. See the link below. (more…)
25th Annual Moskowitz Prize 25th Annual Moskowitz Prize for Outstanding Quantitative Research in Sustainable and Responsible Investing submission deadline is June 30, 2020. As interest in impact and sustainable investing grows, so too does the recognition that such strategies can outperform, mitigate risk and be resilient in a crisis. That puts a premium on the […]
Kokkinis and Sergakis – A Flexible Model for Efficient Employee Participation in UK Companies by Andreas Kokkinis & Konstantinos Sergakis, 17 Feb 2020 (download), provides several insights that may be helpful in guiding US efforts as well. As mentioned in my coverage of the recent SHARE Summit, #SHARE2020, I am investing in public companies with employee ownership. […]
The Costs and Benefits of Shareholder Democracy (download from SSRN) by Nickolay Gantchev and Mariassunta Giannetti was referenced several times in the SEC’s proposed rulemaking to “modernize” the shareholder proposal process by making corporations more of democratic-free. The research was also referenced by two SEC Commissioners at the meeting when the proposal was initially voted […]
The 2019 Moskowitz Prize Winners were named at the annual SRI Conference last week. The prestigious prize is the only global award recognizing outstanding quantitative research in sustainable and responsible investing. Since its launch in 1996 by Berkeley Haas and US SIF, its winners have explored shareholder activism, socially responsible mutual funds, and social responsible investing as a catalyst […]
The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution by Susan Hockfield provides a quick read of what is on the horizon. The former president of MIT believes the convergence of biology and engineering will be as transformative as the previous convergence of physics and engineering. (more…)
Sustainability at Morningstar (Morningstar Investment Conference #MICUS) in Chicago was an important topic, growing in popularity. As posted, their research found “72% of the United States population expressed at least a moderate interest in sustainable investing.” Nice to know many value a habitable planet as well as profits. However, research from Morningstar also finds we […]
MICUS 2019 was my first Morningstar investment conference. It was HUGE, with lots interesting exhibits, speakers and attendees. I had a chance to chat with Ray Sin who, along with Ryan Murphy and Samantha Lamas, authored The True Faces of Sustainable Investing: Busting Industry Myths Around ESG. Additionally, I got a chance to play a […]
Mission-led employee-owned firms offer an alternative to conventional publicly-traded companies. With support from Partners for a New Economy, Fifty by Fifty‘s research demonstrates, mission-driven employee-owned firms are the Best of the Best. Using data from B Lab, which assesses the social and environmental impact of B Corps, Fifty by Fifty found these firms outperform on […]
Proxy Preview 2019 reveals intensified shareholder pressure on corporations across a wide range of ESG issues from climate and political spending to women. Investors with a conscience; we are having a bigger impact every year. Download the report and/or watch webinar here. (more…)
Drugs are being priced out of reach. The new web platform, Shareholder Democracy, will enable millions of Americans to “vote” on pending 2019 shareholder resolutions at six pharmaceutical companies. Shareholder Democracy Network and its drug-pricing ballot for stakeholders will be launched during a phone-based news conference at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on Tuesday (February […]
Real-time proxy voting disclosure by big funds could drive competition for investments from individual investors and smaller institutional investors with few resources for proxy analysis. Such disclosures would also go a long way in solving problems raised by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine, Lucian Bebchuk, and the Main Street Investors Coalition regarding potential […]
The second annual Board Governance Research report on Women on Boards of Companies Headquartered in California examines the current state of board gender diversity. California made history in 2018 by becoming the first state in the U.S. to require that public companies headquartered in the state have women on their boards. Last year’s report was cited in […]
Jill Fisch, et al. addresses a central myth around index funds and investors in Passive Investors (June 29, 2018). Her research has implications applicable to recent analysis and recommendations by Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr., Professor Lucian Bebchuk and others. The following is the central highlight: Our key insight is that although […]
Lucian Bebchuk has given more thought to the issues surrounding the Big Three Index Funds than other researchers. He and Scott Hirst recently provide a “comprehensive theoretical, empirical, and policy analysis of index fund stewardship.” Reference also Strine: Big 4 Responsible to “Forced Capitalists,” as well as The Untenable Case for Keeping Investors in the Dark by […]
The CII Research and Education Fund (CII-REF), a Council of Institutional Investors (CII) subsidiary, issued a Guide to Disclosure of Board Evaluation Processes highlighting best practices. (more…)
In a recent paper, Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. excoriates the Big 4 mutual fund families for voting against shareholder proposals seeking transparency for political contributions. His recommended action is radical. I offer a more moderate strategy. (more…)
Support for corporate political disclosure sponsored by the Center for Political Accountability’s resolution jumped among the largest mutual funds in 2018. An analysis by Fund Votes found support moved to 53%, up from 45% in 2017. This 8% increase was the largest since CPA began tracking institutional investor votes on its resolution in 2008. (more…)
US SIF study documents environmental, social, and governance — ESG assets — under management surging. ESG assets now account for one in every four investment dollars. Demand for ESG asset focus is coming from real people. In contrast, the Main Street Investors Coalition [funded by the National Association of Manufacturing (NAM)], insists on “maximizing performance ahead of […]
David Webber was interviewed by Doug Chia recently. I previously reviewed Webber’s book elsewhere, Working-Class Shareholder: Review Essay, which included links to several interviews. However, Doug Chia’s interview of David Weber is exceptionally good, worth viewing. Douglas (Doug) Chia is executive director of the Governance Center for The Conference Board. (more…)
2018 CPA-Zicklin Index shows gradual improvement. Public corporations embracing disclosure and accountability of their political spending hold fast despite countervailing pressures from Washington. (more…)
Shareholder Collaboration is a new ECGI working paper by Jill Fisch and Simone M. Sepe. Fisch is one of my favorite researchers, being insightful and less predictable than many of those in the primary academic hubs of corporate governance (Harvard, Stanford, and Delaware). In Shareholder Collaboration, the authors discuss the growing importance of a collaborative […]
“Impact investing” – financial investments designed to generate a measurable, positive impact on society, while also providing potential returns – is growing in popularity, according to new research conducted by American Century Investments. The “appeal” of impact investing reached 49% among 2018 survey participants, compared to 38% in 2016. At 56%, Millennials find impact investing […]
By August 31, 2018, California could become the first state in the nation with gender quotas to mandate publicly held companies that base their operations in the state to have women on their boards. The legislation—SB 826—will require public companies headquartered in California to have a minimum of one female on its board of directors […]
Microcap Board Governance, a study conducted by Board Governance Research LLC commissioned by the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCi), examines microcap board governance at 160 companies. That represents about ten percent of all companies with less than $300 million in market capitalization traded on major U.S. stock exchanges. (more…)