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Tag Archives | PRI

Fitch Links ESG to Credit Ratings

, January 7, 2019 ,

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 the focus of investors to include environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, with everyone participating in the debate.

Perhaps the new ESG Relevance Scores from Fitch Ratings will help bridge the gap. Unlike ESG ratings developed by others, Fitch displays both the relevance and materiality of ESG elements to the rating decision. They are sector-based and entity-specific. Continue Reading →

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Mutual Funds Hold Back Political Spending Transparency

, May 8, 2017 ,
Mutual Funds Hold Back Political Spending Transparency

Mutual Funds Hold Back Political Spending Transparency

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, calls on the nation’s largest mutual fund companies to support political spending disclosure. Press conference participants included US Sen Robert Menendez (D-N.J.); John Coates, professor of law and economics at Harvard Law School; and Patrick Doherty, director of corporate governance for the Office of the New York State Comptroller.

For years shareholders have been pushing companies to disclose information critical to shareholders’ ability to evaluate their investments. Major mutual fund companies can and should play a pivotal role, according to Public Citizen and its partners in the Corporate Reform Coalition. Continue Reading →

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Global Sustainable Investment Up 25%

, March 27, 2017 ,

Global Sustainable Investment ReviewThe 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:

  1. Negative/exclusionary screening,
  2. Positive/best-in-class screening,
  3. Norms-based screening,
  4. Integration of ESG factors,
  5. Sustainability themed investing,
  6. Impact/community investing, and
  7. Corporate engagement and shareholder action.

Yet, many in the mainstream press continue to disparage sustainable investing. This morning, Justin Baer of the Wall Street Journal reported that “interest in so-called environmental, social and governance investing is surging.” (State Street Offers New Tool to Gauge Environmental, Other Social Risks) There is nothing “so-called” about the movement to ESG investing. It is real.

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Vanguard: Review Climate Change Voting

, December 30, 2016 ,

Vanguard Asked to Report on Climate Change VotingWalden 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 concerned about their voting record on issues like climate change. Tim Smith shared this new resolution with Vanguard, which as many know signed onto the UN’s PRI.

It is significant that investors are questioning their proxy voting record on issues like climate change. Continue Reading →

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Vanguard’s Political Disclosure Vote: Wrong!

, January 27, 2016 ,
Vanguard's Political Disclosure Vote is Wrong (2nd from bottom on graph)

Vanguard’s Political Disclosure Vote is Wrong (2nd from bottom on graph)

VanguardLet’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 change their proxy voting behavior. Support shareholder resolutions that seek disclosure of political spending at companies where Vanguard owns a shares. If Vanguard votes with us, instead of against us, it won’t be long before other large funds like BlackRock start doing the same. Within a few years, we could actually begin to know what companies are funneling how much money to which candidates. Vanguard’s political disclosure vote can be changed – with your help. Sign the petition by U.S. PIRG to change Vanguard’s political disclosure vote. Continue Reading →

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Investors to Oil: Disclose Climate Lobbying

, January 11, 2016 ,
Influence Map to Disclose Climate Lobbying

Influence Map to Disclose Climate Lobbying

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 expenses (direct and indirect through trade associations) and to review their public policy advocacy on energy policy and climate change. Let’s get oil and gas companies to disclose climate lobbying! I sincerely hope readers of Corporate Governance (CorpGov.net) will vote in favor of these resolutions as they appear on corporate proxies. Monitor how others are voting at Proxy Democracy. If you own stock in other oil and gas companies, consider filing similar resolutions. Don’t know how? Check out our Shareowner Action Handbook. Take Action! Continue Reading →

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Resolution: Report Public Policy on Climate Change

, November 25, 2015 ,

Climate Risk DisclosureRecently, 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 opposing its clean power plan. Their money and reputation line up working to block regulations that would reduce GHG emissions.   Continue Reading →

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Beyond the Bottom Line With PRI

, May 12, 2015 ,

PRII 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 shaping the spirit of the painting. Power isn’t wielded by isolated individuals but by networks of individuals who are bonded by trust and influence. Continue Reading →

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Walden’s BNY Mellon Proposal Seeks Review of Proxy Voting Policies

, November 5, 2014 ,

Walden Asset ManagementHere’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. It is like calling out green-washers for polluting.  Continue Reading →

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CII Fall 2014 Conference: Part 1

, October 8, 2014 ,

CII

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 both graduate students a long time ago. Continue Reading →

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A Step Toward Responsible Investment @ Harvard

, June 24, 2014 ,

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.HarvardLogo

James Gifford headshot suit HR

Dr. E. James M. Gifford

Last month, Harvard University joined more than a thousand other global investment institutions that have signed the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment. For students and staff who advocate Harvard’s divestment from fossil fuel companies, signing the PRI may appear to be a small and incremental step. However, as the founding Executive Director of the PRI who has spent the last decade promoting responsible investments within mainstream institutions, I believe it is a huge step forward—and its implications shouldn’t be underestimated. Continue Reading →

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PRI Is Not Just PR

, February 16, 2010 ,

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, and corporate governance (ESG) issues into their investment analysis and ownership policy. At first glance, the Principles can seem vague: what exactly does it mean, one might ask, to “incorporate ESG issues into investment decision-making” or “seek appropriate disclosure on ESG”? The Principles are explicitly “voluntary and aspirational,” and signing on to them might seem like a mere marketing gesture. However, the sixth of the Principles is a promise to report on an entity’s progress toward implementing all of them, and in August 2009 five organizations were removed from the signatory list for failing to make such a report.

The report goes on to describe each of the Principles, provides guidance on what each is about and on how to comply.

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