Following another year of record-breaking shareowner votes on social and environmental issues – including five majority votes – socially responsible investors are gearing up to have even greater impact in 2012. This year’s edition of Proxy Preview provides a comprehensive overview of hundreds of upcoming social and environmental shareholder resolutions. It also offers insider details […]
Tag Archives | SRI
"For Benefit" Corporations Explained at NorCalNACD Event
James McRitchie, 02/22/2012 ,
On October 9, 2011, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law bills that create two new corporate forms in California: (more…)
Water Threats for Investors: Friday Webinar
James McRitchie, 01/18/2012 ,
In response to increasing corporate exposure to global water supply threats and investment community interest in water-related issues, Ceres has released a new report and tool that investors and companies can use as a roadmap to enhanced water risk (more…)
Trillium & Green Century Mark Citizens United Anniversary With Resolutions Urging Halt to Political Donations
James McRitchie, 01/18/2012 ,
On the 2nd anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, two investment firms announce that they have filed shareholder resolutions at three companies, Bank of America, 3M & Target Corporation, urging them to refrain from making political donations in the future. This is the first time institutional shareholders have (more…)
Fracking Done Right: Guide from IEHN and ICCR
James McRitchie, 12/20/2011 ,
The Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), two shareholder coalitions committed to social and environmental justice, released a guide intended to help increase disclosure and mitigate the impacts of natural gas operations using hydraulic fracturing (commonly referred to as “fracking”). Responding to growing public concern about the environmental and social (more…)
Higher CSR Linked to Lower Cost of Capital
James McRitchie, 10/05/2011 ,
Firms that score strongly in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) find that their cost of equity capital financing is consistently lower than firms with weaker CSR track records, according to Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect the Cost of Capital?, winner of the 2011 Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing. The Center for Responsible Business at […]
Shareowner Alienation
James McRitchie, 09/29/2011 ,
I stumbled upon an interesting article in the Vol. 52, No. S3, Supplement to the April 2011 edition of Current Anthropology, which gets to the heart of the schizophrenic way we have organized capitalism. While many of us work to make the world a better place, our investments externalize costs and jeopardize everything we hold […]
Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility
James McRitchie, 07/19/2011 ,
Reframing Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis, edited by William Sun, Jim Stewart, and David Pollard, is volume 1 in an important new series: Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability. Disclosure: I’m on the Editorial Advisory and Review Board of the series at the request of William Sun, who I’ve […]
Risks of Fracking
James McRitchie, 07/18/2011 ,
The companies most likely to be trusted by investors and most readily welcomed by local communities will be those that: • Have an across-the-board, transparent record of voluntary actions to reduce the quantity and toxicity of chemicals; • Develop innovative methods for reducing use of fresh water — for example, recycling fracturing waste waters or […]
Video Friday: 6 Degrees Warmer: Mass Extinction?
James McRitchie, 07/15/2011 ,
Will we actually be frightened enough to do something more than install solar panels on our roof, buy a Prius and recycle our garbage? It doesn’t take an economist to understand the basic economic principle that you can’t grow an asset if you have destroyed the asset base. This fundamental principle seems to make perfect […]
CalSTRS Advance Board Diversity
James McRitchie, 07/12/2011 ,
CalSTRS withdrew all eight of its board diversity shareholder proposals filed during the 2011 proxy season after successfully engaging companies to consider diversity in director searches. In recent years, the issues of board of director leadership and oversight roles have taken on increased significance to long-term investors, such as CalSTRS. Today’s economic challenges highlight the […]
Non-Financial Reporting
James McRitchie, 07/11/2011 ,
The Global Education Research Network symposium hosted by the Center for Corporate Citizenship opened with a panel titled “Looking at the Big Picture of Non-Financial Reporting.” Moderator Brad Googins, associate professor at the Carroll School, was joined by Steve Lydenberg, partner, Strategic Vision, Domini Social Investing, and Michael Sadowski, vice president, SustainAbility Inc. Googins asked […]
Call for Papers: Ethical Finance & Governance
James McRitchie, 07/11/2011 ,
A December 16, 2011 on Ethical Finance & Governance is planned for Paris, chaired by H. Jemel (Amiens School of Management & LEM UMR 8179, Fr), JM. Sahut (HEG Geneva, Ch & CEREGE EA 1722-Univ. Poitiers, Fr) & F. Teulon (IPAG LAB, Fr). Guest speaker at the conference will be Z. Sardar, a Visiting Professor at City […]
Call for Papers on Institutional Investors & Sustainability
James McRitchie, 07/08/2011 ,
I’m on the editorial advisory board of the Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability series of books to be published by Emerald and so am helping them scour the world for contributing authors. The next book in the series will be edited by Dr. Suzanne Young, Associate Professor, La Trobe University, Australia, and Professor Stephen Gates, […]
SRI in the Rockies BaseCamp Comes to NYC
James McRitchie, 06/14/2011 ,
First Affirmative Financial Network announced yesterday that it will host a regional BaseCamp in New York City on Wednesday, June 15th from 9:00am to 6:00pm EDT. The one-day regional mini-conference is designed for investors and financial professionals who want to see their money working to change the world through sustainable and socially responsible investing. Hunter […]
Companies with Best Corporate Governance
James McRitchie, 04/18/2011 ,
As consumers increasingly clamor for companies to embrace social responsibility, good corporate citizenship is fast becoming a vital part of any business or stock’s success. Corporate Responsibility magazine recently released its “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list, in which it rated members of the Russell 1000 large-cap index on more than 300 different elements related to […]
AFL-CIO Key Votes
James McRitchie, 02/10/2011 ,
The AFL-CIO released its 2010 Key Votes Survey report on investment manager proxy voting. They also released an updated list of AFL-CIO Key-Votes-as-of-Feb-4-2011 for the current proxy season. Upcoming votes include those at Apple on CEO succession planning (item 5) on February 23, Navistar on golden parachutes (item 6) on February 15, and Whole Foods […]
Capitalist Tool Misses Point on SRI
James McRitchie, 08/11/2010 ,
When Does Socially Responsible Investing Go Too Far?, an advice item at Forbes (“the capitalist’s tool”) on money and ethics misses a major point. A reader writes in that his wife “has become passionate about social and political issues and asked that we not invest in companies she believes are bad corporate citizens.” Her list […]
New Resources: Sustainability Quotes, Crisis Timeline, Cal Corp Law & Proxy Access Avoidance
James McRitchie, 07/26/2010 ,
Quotes – The Business Case for Sustainability & CSR Reporting: Selected Quotes from the Business Community July 2010. Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management, offered up a helpful resource providing a selected set of quotes from CEO’s and company CSR reports on the business case for Sustainability and CSR reporting highlighting how they contribute to […]
Timely Case Studies in CSR
James McRitchie, 06/02/2010 ,
Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study Approach, edited by Christine A. Mallin (Hardcover – June 30, 2010) takes a look at the worldwide phenomenon of CSR, almost ex-USA, which has been extensively covered by others. Few are as qualified to edit such a volume as Mallin, who proved herself capable of screening out the best from […]
July 2009 News Archives
James McRitchie, 07/31/2009 ,
Mutual Funds: Pass Through Voting? Various studies have shown that mutual funds often place their own interest in asset gathering ahead of their fiduciary duties. After studying proxy voting by US funds, Jennifer S. Taub (of UMass) concludes one option might be to “borrow from British reforms by creating a uniform set of best practices […]