Join ICGN in Cape Town, following PRI in Person, on 3-4 October for the ICGN Debate and Responsible Investing Programme, hosted by IoD in Southern Africa and endorsed by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. (more…)
Tag Archives | SRI
Garment Worker to Access WalMart Annual Meeting
James McRitchie, 06/05/2013 ,
I am delighted to announce that Kalpona Akter, a former garment worker from Bangladesh who is the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, will have access to the floor of the WalMart ($WMT) annual meeting on Friday, June 7 in Bentonville, Arkansas. She has been an outspoken critic of sweatshop conditions in Bangladesh […]
Institutional Pathways to Fossil Free Investment
James McRitchie, 05/31/2013 ,
Colleges and universities, philanthropic foundations, and other endowed institutional investors could see better financial returns and lower their portfolio risk by divesting from fossil fuels, according to a new report released this morning by Tellus Institute, Responsible Endowments Coalition, Sustainable Endowments Institute, and 350.org. (more…)
PRI Vacancies
James McRitchie, 05/22/2013 ,
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…)
My Notes from Ceres Conference 2013
James McRitchie, 05/15/2013 ,
Let’s just label these notes as “for entertainment purposes only.” Attending the conference was a real pleasure. Unfortunately, I was too busy catching up with people to take more than impressionistic notes at a few of the discussions. Prepare to be frightened about global climate change and our irresponsibly slow pace addressing the catastrophic consequences […]
Beyond Growth: Do Corporations Have Any Responsibility to Ensure Growth Helps the Majority?
James McRitchie, 05/08/2013 ,
The following guest post is from Martin Hart-Landsberg, PhD who blogs at Reports from the Economic Front. I’m republishing his post (I added the subtitle to his Beyond Growth) because I believe those concerned with corporate governance need to look at corporations in context. Are corporations helping society or adding to its burdens? Cross-posted at Reports from […]
Institutional Investor Engagement Improves Disclosure of Bribery & Corruption Risks
James McRitchie, 04/25/2013 ,
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…)
New Independent Investment Firm, Sustainvest Asset Management, LLC Starts in Petaluma
James McRitchie, 04/23/2013 ,
New investment advisory firm, Sustainvest Asset Management LLC focused on sustainable and responsible investing (SRI), has started operations. The firm focuses on investment management for individuals, foundations and non-profit organizations who are searching for an investment advisor who uses the 3 pillars of SRI: (more…)
Fair Harvard Fund Makes Progress: Alternative Endowment Should Be Permanent & Democratic
James McRitchie, 04/18/2013 ,
The Responsible Investment at Harvard Coalition recently announced it had invested contributions from 450 donors in a socially responsible fund withheld from Harvard University. The Fair Harvard Fund, designed as an alternative endowment fund, will be invested in the Portfolio 21 Global Equity Fund. According to Harvard undergraduate and investment committee member Michael Danto: (more…)
Help in Achieving CSR & Sustainability Awards and Recognition
James McRitchie, 04/17/2013 ,
Governance & Accountability Institute (G&A), a strategies and consulting firm focusing on Sustainability and 3BL Media, the leading distributor of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, Health, and Energy news and content, announced G&A Institute’s Awards & Recognition Program yesterday. G&A Institute inaugurated its Awards & Recognitions program to assist client companies in navigating the increasing number of leadership awards and […]
Review: Governance, Democracy and Sustainable Development
James McRitchie, 03/05/2013 ,
The subtitle of the book edited by James Meadowcroft, Oluf Langhelle and Audun Ruud is Governance, Moving Beyond the Impasse. Progress on important issues such as climate change, biodiversity, sustainable management of lands and oceans is blocked. The book’s essays, by some of the world’s leading thinkers, explore how we got here and how we might […]
Ground-Breaking Proxy Proposals Headed to Shareowner Vote
James McRitchie, 03/04/2013 ,
Climate Change Portfolio Exposure Boston Common Asset Management has a proposal that will appear on the proxy of PNC Financial Services ($PNC) requesting that it report to shareowners on the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from its lending portfolio and its exposure to climate change risk in its lending, investing, and financing activities. Watch for your proxy. The […]
Faith-Based Investing: Believers Engaging the Boardroom
James McRitchie, 02/19/2013 ,
The following guest post comes from Usman Hayat, was published by the CFA Institute on 13 February 2013, and is republished here with permission. Why, how, and to what effect do faith-based investors engage with companies to seek positive social and environmental change? A recent report, “Believers in the Boardroom: Religious Organizations and Their Shareholder Engagement Practices” […]
Harvard to Create Sustainable Investment Officer Position
James McRitchie, 02/19/2013 ,
Harvard Management Company, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University that manages Harvard’s endowment, will establish a new senior level position devoted to overseeing the environmental, social, and corporate governance-related aspects of the university’s investments. (more…)
Webinar on Environmental & Social Proxy Proposals
James McRitchie, 02/18/2013 ,
The Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute will host a webinar on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 at 1 PM ET to review the findings of a new study that finds environmental and social (E+S) shareholder proposals are gaining increased voting support from investors at U.S. public companies. From 2005-2011, average support for these proposals more than […]
Report Shows Carbon Divestment Does Not Increase Portfolio Risk
James McRitchie, 01/29/2013 ,
As students around the country are asking their university endowments to do the climate math and divest from fossil fuel companies, the financial community is responding with its own math, the “investment math,” to determine the risk impact of carbon divestment. Aperio Group LLC, a financial advisory firm that manages customized portfolios for a range of […]
Active Ownership Increases Corporate Returns
James McRitchie, 01/29/2013 ,
Elroy Dimson, Oguzhan Karakas, and Xi Li analyze an extensive proprietary database of corporate social responsibility engagements with US public companies over 1999–2009. Engagements address environmental, social, and governance concerns. They are followed by a one-year abnormal return that averages 1.8%, comprising 4.4% for successful and zero for unsuccessful engagements. (more…)
CalPERS Sustainable Investment Research Initiative & Call for Papers
James McRitchie, 01/29/2013 ,
CalPERS launched the Sustainable Investment Research Initiative (SIRI), in an effort to drive innovative thought leadership that will inform and advance the organization’s understanding of sustainability factors and the impact they have on financial performance. (more…)
Call for Papers: Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets
James McRitchie, 11/26/2012 ,
4th International Conference on Corporate Governance in Emerging Markets, August 23-24, 2013 at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, INDIA. Submission Deadline: February 28, 2013 (more…)
Video Friday: Responsible Endowments Coalition
James McRitchie, 11/16/2012 ,
On February 15th, the Responsible Endowments Coalition honored Anuradha Mittal, the Executive Director of the Oakland Institute. Anuradha spoke about university investments in land grabs—the act of buying up vast tracts of land in poor countries that often result in environmental destruction and violations of human rights. (more…)
PRI Publishes List of New and Delisted Signatories
James McRitchie, 11/15/2012 ,
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 […]
Cisco: How I Voted – Proxy Score 83%
James McRitchie, 11/09/2012 ,
Cisco ($CSCO) is one of the stocks in my portfolio. Their annual meeting is coming up on 11/15/2012. ProxyDemocracy.org had collected the votes of five funds when I voted on 11/8/2012. I voted with management 83% of the time. View Proxy Statement. Warning: Be sure to vote each item on the proxy. Any items left blank will be […]
Heavy PAC CSR's Correlated with Higher Stock Returns
James McRitchie, 11/05/2012 ,
Companies that tout social responsibility and whose managers contribute to political action committees tend to provide higher returns to shareholders, suggests a new University of California, Davis, study Strange Bedfellows? – Voluntary CSR Disclosure and Politics. (more…)
Corporate Governance Bites
James McRitchie, 10/09/2012 ,
Continuing challenges to exclusive forum bylaw provisions – Lexology An increasingly popular trend in recent years has been the adoption by Delaware public companies of an exclusive forum provision in their bylaws. An exclusive forum provision generally provides for the Delaware Court of Chancery to be the exclusive forum for certain disputes (including derivative actions, breach […]
An Economy That Works For All
James McRitchie, 09/24/2012 ,
A Conversation With Marjorie Kelly & Chuck Collins. 5:30 to 7:30 pm, Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at the Unitarian Universalist Association, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA. To RSVP, email salpern47@gmail.com or join the Facebook event. (more…)
A New Strategy to Fight Citizens United
James McRitchie, 09/24/2012 ,
Guest post from Kent Greenfield. Author, ‘The Myth of Choice’; law professor at Boston College. This article is adapted from a more substantial essay in the Fall 2012 issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas and appeared previously on Huffington Post, 9/15/2012. We progressives have been in quite a tizzy about Citizens United, especially now that 2012 election cycle is swamped with […]
Video Friday: The Voice of Students & Power of Endowments
James McRitchie, 08/24/2012 ,
On February 15th, the Responsible Endowments Coalition honored Anuradha Mittal, the Executive Director of the Oakland Institute. Anuradha spoke about university investments in land grabs—the act of buying up vast tracts of land in poor countries that often result in environmental destruction and violations of human rights. (more…)
Emerging Markets ESG: Interviews & Database
James McRitchie, 08/21/2012 ,
The Global Unions’ Committee on Workers’ Capital (CWC) is an international labor union network for dialogue and action on the responsible investment of workers’ capital. The CWC Secretariat is hosted at the Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), a leader in responsible investment services for institutional investors. In her capacity as International Program Director at SHARE, […]
ESG Investing at University Endowments: Next Steps
James McRitchie, 07/31/2012 ,
A new report, Environmental, Social and Governance Investing by College and University Endowments in the United States, finds environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) efforts by endowments are less prevalent than often believed, particularly given their history as pioneers dating back to 1970s anti-apartheid campaigns. These findings are particularly surprising at a time when ESG factors are increasingly factored […]
Video Friday: Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue Fails to See Issues of Stereotyping Clearly
James McRitchie, 03/30/2012 ,
Sociological Images (Boys Want Success, Girls Want Boys) noted a recent Acuvue contact lens commercial aimed at teens that reinforces both gender and racial stereotypes. The teens look forward to their futures. For the boys, these involve future career success — notice the African American teen dreams of being a famous athlete, while the White […]
Student Run Investment Portfolios: Beyond Stock Picking
James McRitchie, 03/29/2012 ,
Reflecting on my Experience on the Blyth Fund got me thinking about the 6,000 plus university-based student-run investment funds in the U.S. Many are moving away from pure stock-picking to consider sustainability and social issues. What if they also started looking at corporate governance and began (more…)
Video Friday: 131 Years of Global Warming in 26 Seconds
James McRitchie, 03/16/2012 ,
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Webinar: Common ESG Metrics
James McRitchie, 03/13/2012 ,
The Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute will host a webinar to review the findings of a new study, Finding Common Ground on the Metrics that Matter, on Friday, March 16, 2012 at 11:00 AM ET. The report authors will review the findings and respond to questions. Register. Download the report (more…)
Video Friday: No Conflict Between Responsible Investment & Fiduciary Duty
James McRitchie, 03/09/2012 ,
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…)
Discovering Shale Gas: An Investor Guide to Hydraulic Facturing
James McRitchie, 03/02/2012 ,
The Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) Institute and the Sustainable Investment Institute (SI2) will host a webinar on Thursday, March 8, 2012, from 11:00 – 12:00 PM ET to review the findings for their new report. Register. (more…)