More beta is what investors should focus on order to increase long-term returns, argue Jim Hawley and Jon Lukomnik in their paper, The Long and Short of It: Are We Asking the Right Questions? – Modern Portfolio Theory and Time Horizons (download). That has also been the objective of Corporate Governance (CorpGov.net) since 1995. I […]
Fitch Ratings today announced the launch of a new integrated scoring system that shows how environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors impact individual credit rating decisions. On one side, the Main Street Investors Coalition believe investors must focus on maximizing financial return and management knows best. On the other side are those who want to broaden […]
A Public Citizen report shows mutual funds hold back political spending transparency through their proxy voting behavior. Fully 64% of political spending disclosure shareholder proposals would have passed with majority support if major mutual funds owning more than 5% had voted in favor of them in 2016. The report, released during a telephone press conference last week, […]
The Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA) released its biennial Global Sustainable Investment Review 2016, showing that global sustainable investment assets reached $22.89 trillion at the start of 2016, a 25% increase from 2014. Sustainable investment encompasses the following activities and strategies: Negative/exclusionary screening, Positive/best-in-class screening, Norms-based screening, Integration of ESG factors, Sustainability themed investing, Impact/community investing, and […]
Walden seeks co-filers for resolutions asking Vanguard to review and report on its proxy voting policies and practices related to climate change. It is rare when investors file a resolution with a mutual fund since most funds don’t hold regular annual meetings. Nonetheless the act of filing puts the fund on notice that participants are […]
Let’s change Vanguard’s political disclosure vote. Our nation’s largest mutual fund voted against all resolutions submitted by shareholders asking for companies to disclose their political spending. Shouldn’t we have the right to know what candidates our investments are supporting? Vanguard’s Political Disclosure Vote Needs Changed Join more than 59,000 American’s who have already petitioned Vanguard to […]
Disclose Climate Lobbying: Resolutions Filed at Oil and Gas Companies Encouraged by the forward‐looking actions addressing climate change at the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) in December, investors have filed shareholder resolutions at 11 oil and gas companies asking them to disclose climate lobbying activities. The resolutions urge the companies to fully disclose their lobbying activities and […]
Recently, with the revelations about Exxon’s past support for climate denial organizations hitting the news, there has been a fresh interest in the ways oil companies have used their lobbying and contributions to oppose climate change solutions. For example most oil companies are members of the Chamber and American Petroleum Association, which recently sued the EPA […]
I used to believe that democratic power was exercised like the creation of an impressionist masterpiece — each individual offering an artistically placed paint stroke that blends into the whole as you step back. As I have matured, I now see that those who are able to influence others around them are most effective in […]
Here’s one of the most interesting proxy proposals I have seen so far during this new season. I wasn’t aware of similar resolutions filed by Zevin until recently notified by Timothy Smith. If BNY Mellon is a PRI signatory, why are they consistently voting against what PRI stands for? Let’s see more proposals like this. […]
This is the first time I’ve attended a Council of Institutional Investors (CII) semi-annual conference. As at most conferences, the biggest draw is the ability to network, making new contacts and refreshing old ones. I was delighted to reconnect with Meredith Miller, chief corporate governance officer, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust. I hadn’t seen Meredith since we were […]
Guest Post: Dr. E. James M. Gifford, a Senior Fellow at the Initiative for Responsible Investment by way of Annie Olszewski, Research Associate at Initiative for Responsible Investment at the Harvard Kennedy School. This article was originally posted in the Harvard Crimson on May 28, 2014. Last month, Harvard University joined more than a thousand other global investment institutions that have signed the UN-supported […]
There are a number of vacancies at the PRI Initiative. As always, you can keep up to date on vacancies at the PRI by visiting their website. • Director of Policy and Research – position summary • European Network Manager – position summary (more…)
A three-year engagement by PRI signatories has resulted in improved transparency and disclosure of anti-corruption strategies, policies and management systems by several global companies with significant exposure to corruption risk. (more…)
I attended a virtual-only meeting of United Natural Foods, Inc. yesterday and was pleased that a majority of shares were voted in favor of my proposal to declassify the board. That, combined with a move to majority vote requirements for directors a few years ago, helps move UNFI ($UNFI) into the center of the pack […]
The United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Initiative today published its annual list of signatories joining and leaving the initiative. In total, 254 new signatories joined the PRI between 12 September 2011 and 9 November 2012, bringing total signatory numbers to more than 1,100, drawn from 50 countries and managing assets of more than […]
Rob Lake, Director of Strategic Development for the United Nations-backed organization Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), has years of experience in socially responsible investing. His SRI experience in Europe and the UK has (more…)
A new white paper, “Why the PRI Is Not Just PR,” is available as a free download from The Corporate Library’s website. The United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), launched in 2006, have been endorsed by more than 670 asset owners, money managers, and investment service providers who have pledged to incorporate environmental, social, […]