Fair elections have long been a major concern. When I started CorpGov.net in 1995, most directors were probably chosen by CEOs. Elections resembled those of North Korea. Vote for management’s slate or withhold your vote. Fair elections? I didn’t think so. My friends toiled mostly in socially responsible investments, focused on double bottom line impacts and […]
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 […]
Bruce Herbert on Vote counting, Chevron, and the changing tide of investor awareness. That’s a small fraction of Bruce Herbert’s focus at Newground Social Investment and some of what we will discuss on April 11, @ 11 am Pacific (2 pm Eastern). Register. CorpEngage.net houses links to scheduled Corporate Accountability Forums and a growing number of […]
Earth Day 2021: How shareholder advocacy can make a difference Earth Day occurs on April 22, as it has since its founding in 1970. Some credit Earth Day’s establishment as the beginning of the modern environmental movement. As a child, I remember attending school assemblies commemorating Earth Day. Speakers stressed the era’s key environmental themes […]
Professional Athletes at #SRI30 were touted as the “next wave of impact.” I was delighted to learn from a panel of retired professional athletes about their second careers… giving back to the community. I am not a big sports fan but most Americans are. This panel presented a great opportunity for many the SRI community […]
Mutual fund wars are fierce around pricing. What if competition was also fierce around proxy voting? Could that change the world? I certainly think so. My petition to the SEC could generate mutual fund wars around ensuring proxy votes align with investor values. (Rulemaking Petition for Real-Time Disclosure of Proxy Votes, SEC File 4-748, Jul. […]
CSR 5.0. I must have missed 2.0 through 4.9… focused on corporate governance and ESG. This was my first Skytop Strategies conference (agenda) or one specifically on the topic of CSR. It was billed as presenting “the evolution of corporate social responsibility from its initial shared value paradigm to its current form. The program will […]
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 […]
The deceptive title of a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal would not keep politics out of the boardroom. Instead, the recommendations would deny shareholders the right to request boards disclose those politics, in addition to denying many other long-standing rights. Read the op-ed and weep that such trash gets published in the Journal. This […]
NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a Boston-based wealth management firm, announced that it has published a white paper outlining its perspective on the issue of domestic (U.S) prison labor in company supply chains, and recommending best practices for companies and investors to uncover and respond to abusive labor practices. Prison Labor in the United States: An […]
Benefit corporation governance provides increased accountability. Most of our financial capital is allocated and stewarded through a system that has a primary goal of creating financial return. This goal directs the real economy, where shareholders treat corporations as accountable for financial results, but not for their economic, social or environmental impact. (more…)
Part 4 28th Annual SRI Conference in San Diego. Search #AllinForImpact on Twitter to see more posts. See Parts 1, 2, and 3. Yes, I know, this conference was held months ago but I’m still digesting… maybe until the next one. I could spend a productive year just exploring links to the work of the speakers. Mark […]
SRI engagement and monitoring was a major theme during my first day at the 28th Annual SRI Conference this year (#AllinForImpact), although my 1st impressions were interrupted by the issuance of SEC SLB 14I, as previously noted. SRI has grown more than 13% a year since 1995 (when I started this blog) and now total over $8.7 trillion in […]
Moskowitz Prize Winner Announced Moskowitz prize winner for 2017 was announced today by the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, in collaboration with The SRI Conference (#AllinForImpact). The prize is named after research pioneer Milt Moskowitz, one of the first researchers to look for the connection between good corporate […]
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 […]
After making the decision to apply the principles of SRI investing, many clients embark on the initial step of selecting a core stock fund. Traditional investors have literally hundreds of highly efficient core investment solutions. However, SRI investors aren’t so blessed—which is why I put together this core list of Best SRI Funds. Best SRI funds need […]
The Department of Labor (DOL) rescinded Interpretive Bulletin 2008-2 relating to the Exercise of Shareholder Rights and replaced it with Interpretive Bulletin 2016-01 which reinstates the language of Interpretive Bulletin 94-2 with some modifications. US SIF supports this change as IB 2008-2 was not only inconsistent with prior guidance, but may have discouraged ERISA plan fiduciaries from […]
Be Part of the SRI Movement A lack of affordable SRI investing solutions may incentivize some savvy investors to do their own research and purchase their own portfolio of individual stocks, but this is almost always a mistake. There is power in the SRI Movement. If you’re joining the SRI movement, it’s likely because you have a […]
The Responsible Investor Handbook; Mobilizing Workers’ Capital for a Sustainable World by Thomas Croft and Annie Malhotra provides a ‘how-to’ manual for workers and trustees who seek to ensure our money is working us, not against us. Buy the book from Greenlead Publishing or Amazon. As I write this review, the US SIF Foundation released their […]
US SIF Foundation Releases 2016 Biennial Report on UA Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Trends. Sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) assets now account for $8.72 trillion, or one in five dollars invested under professional management in the United States according to the US SIF Foundation’s biennial Report on Responsible and Impact Investing Trends 2016, […]
On September 29, 2016 Tim Smith, Walden Asset Management’s director of ESG Shareowner Engagement, will be honored at the annual event of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) for his decades-long, indefatigable leadership shaping the landscape of shareholder advocacy for more just and environmentally sound business policies and practices. Tim is the first secular […]
Marrone Bio Settles Class Action: Announcement Marrone Bio settles class action; time to move on. Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ:MBII, $MBII), a leading provider of bio-based pest management and plant health products for the agriculture, turf and ornamental and water treatment markets, recently announced the Company and other defendants, including certain of the […]
It’s been two months since the SRI Conference in Colorado Springs but I’m still digesting content, like the potential of Folio Investing, and following up with other attendees. #AllinForImpact continues in San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, New York City, Boston and then Denver. Get to at least one of these conferences this year so you too can get inspired. The people and idea are […]
WeConvene Extel and SRI‐CONNECT announced the results of the Independent Research in Responsible Investment Survey 2015; “the most authoritative global survey evaluating how asset managers rate the services of independent providers of sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) & corporate governance (CG) research.” Award winner from the major categories were: (more…)
At the recent #AllInForImpact SRI Conference – on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing I presented a “Topic Table.” These are informal gatherings of up to 10 people during lunch. Topics are submitted prior to the conference by any registrant who wishes to lead a discussion on an issue related to sustainable, responsible, impact investing. Mine was on […]
All In For Impact: The 26th Annual SRI Conference will take place November 3–5, 2015 at The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO. I am pleased to announce conference scholarships for SRI/ESG investing are now being made available to students and young professionals. The SRI Conference is an annual gathering of the responsible investment industry designed to stimulate, inspire, […]
I hope those concerned with good corporate governance are also concerned with stewardship. Investors shouldn’t be making money by investing in products that harm the environment. Their are plenty of alternatives to plastic microbeads. This 2-minute video “explainer” shows how tiny plastic microbeads go down the drain and into our rivers, lakes, and oceans. We […]
CivicSpark, a partnership of California’s Local Government Commission and the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research is an AmeriCorps program dedicated to building capacity in local governments to address climate change. They are now recruiting team members for the 2015-16 service year. Follow on Facebook and Twitter @LGC_media. CivicSpark: Climate Leaders If you are interested in joining the next generation of climate […]
Philanthropic, Foundation Worlds Expected to Join Investors and Investment Professionals Engaged in Sustainable, Responsible, Impact (SRI) Investing; Early-Bird Registration Now Open. Now in its 26th year, the SRI Conference will be November 3-5, 2015 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado and will probably be the largest ever. Leaders in the philanthropy and foundation worlds […]
I see Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Representative Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) are again pushing legislation to add a “Corporate Responsibility Index” option to the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). (Federal employees miss out on sustainable investment option, The Hill, 12/12/14) I certainly agree, federal employees should be able to direct their retirement savings into […]
This is the third in a multi-part series on the main program of the 25th annual SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing held November 9–11, 2014 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. See also Video Friday: What is Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing?, Violating Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Increases Industry Risks, Surveys: Nonprofit Board Members & SRI 2014 Conference Attendees, 25th Annual Conference on […]
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What is Green Investing? “Green Investing” is the phrase I use to describe the process of aligning your investments with your values, social as well as environmental. Many people don’t know that they own companies in their mutual funds and retirement plans that conflict with their beliefs. Financial advisors who specialize in this area use […]
Mike Tyrrell is Editor of SRI-Connect – an online research marketplace for professional institutional investors, analysts & companies interested in sustainable development. He is keen to open up the site to corporate governance analysts & corporate governance research. Mike kindly gave permission to reproduce the interview on CorpGov.net. (more…)
The September issue of Corporate Governance: An International Review is devoted to papers on corporate governance systems and corporate social responsibility. The opening editorial (accessible without subscription) begins with a civics lesson: One cannot understand the CSR strategy and politics of organizations without understanding the nature of the institutional environments in which they choose – or […]