US companies defy investors with switch to online annual meetings
US companies defy investors with switch to online annual meetings

The decision by Duke Energy, the largest utility in the US, to switch to a virtual meeting this year, was criticised by As You Sow, a shareholder group that has put a resolution on the agenda demanding information on pollution from its coal-fired power plants.

“They do not want to face the folks they have harmed,” said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. “Our goal is to make the board understand how important these issues are but, if you are so many voices on a webinar, you lose the impact of the message. It feels like they are running away from their shareholders.”

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EnergyAs You SowDanielle Fugere
It looks like this year will be big for investor activism
It looks like this year will be big for investor activism

"Many companies, especially leaders on environmental and social issues and good corporate governance, are not leaping to end transparency, halt engagements and block shareholder input," said As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar in the report. "Instead, they look to investor advocates to uncover win-win situations that benefit all stakeholders."

In 2017, As You Sow submitted a shareholder proposal for Amazon.com and Target to issue a report about the environmental impacts of foam packing materials. This included "quantifying the amount that could reach the environment, the potential for increased risk of adverse health effects to marine animals and humans."

A similar proposal was made to McDonald’s, which has swapped "polystyrene foam beverage cups" for "foam packing."

As You Sow said on its website that it uses resolutions as a way to leverage the power of stock ownership in publicly traded companies to promote environmental, social and governance change from within.

Resolutions are placed on the company’s proxy, and any shareholder owning at least 1 percent, or $2,000 worth of stock, for at least a year is allowed to bring up a shareholder proposal. 

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As You SowAndrew Behar, Proxy Preview
Shareholders Ready To Fight For 'Hard-Won Gains'
Shareholders Ready To Fight For 'Hard-Won Gains'

Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, emphasized that shareholder proponents remain committed to “protecting hard-won gains” that form from their relationships with corporations -- especially since the new administration is “bent on cutting government regulations and rolling back legislation on everything from financial reform to healthcare and the environment,” he said.

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As You SowAndrew Behar, Proxy Preview
'Overpaid' CEOs a Risk for Investors?
'Overpaid' CEOs a Risk for Investors?

As You Sow flagged as "overpaid" a number of chief executive officers known for high compensation despite the mixed performance of their companies' shares over the period.

The Oakland, California nonprofit found the average returns for the 100 S&P 500 companies it had previously identified as having the most questionable pay went on to underperform the index by 2.9 percentage points over a roughly two-year period ended on Jan. 31.

Study lead author Rosanna Landis Weaver said investors could have used the findings of a similar report from 2015 to short the shares of companies giving their CEOs outsized rewards.

"If you have a CEO whose primary interest is increasing his own wealth, that's not going to be good for shareholders," she said in an interview.

As You Sow made a financial prediction of what each CEO might have been paid based on shareholder returns. Companies with the most red flags and biggest gaps between their actual and predicted compensation were judged the most overpaid.

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CEO PayAs You SowRosanna Landis Weaver
Can going green help pick the slavery out of cotton?
Can going green help pick the slavery out of cotton?

Patricia Jurewicz, director of the Responsible Sourcing Network and creator of initiative Yarn Ethically and Sustainably Sourced (YESS) working in spinning mills, said the cotton supply chain remained tainted despite initiatives to clean it up.

“There are improvements little by little and the most where brands get involved in production as they don’t want to be linked to abuse,” she said. “But there’s a long way to go”.

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Human RightsAs You SowPatricia Jurewicz
As You Sow calls out McDonald's, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target for polystyrene use
As You Sow calls out McDonald's, Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target for polystyrene use

Phasing out the use of polystyrene has been a priority of As You Sow's for years. Based on a 2011 shareholder resolution they encouraged McDonald's to try a pilot program that eventually resulted in the company making a full switch to paper in 2013. Though the company has yet to do this outside of the U.S. and Dunkin' Donuts hasn't followed up on a similar promise. Resolutions have also been filed with Amazon and Target, which mainly use the material for shipping.

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Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowMcDonalds, Consumer Packaging
Consumer goods giant Unilever and Ikea buy into green myth
Consumer goods giant Unilever and Ikea buy into green myth

As You Sow’s release noted: “The shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow has been engaging the company for more than a year to make its packaging recyclable, focusing especially on multi-laminate plastic sachets and pouches used for shampoos in small packages marketed in Asia that cannot currently be recycled,” said As You Sow’s release. “Much of this packaging is discarded and ends up polluting waterways in developing Asian countries due to the lack of solid waste management systems.”

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Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowConsumer Packaging
Tim’s, Burger King to cut some antibiotics from chicken supply
Tim’s, Burger King to cut some antibiotics from chicken supply

RBI has been on the receiving end of pressure from major investors and Oakland-based shareholder advocacy group As You Sow to curb the use of medically important antibiotics in their livestock supply chains.

Noting McDonald’s and other companies have already “taken action” on antibiotics, As You Sow in 2016 put forward a shareholder resolution for RBI to adopt an “enterprise-wide” policy on phasing out use of antibiotics in its meat supply chains for any reasons other than therapeutic use or “non-routine disease control.”

As You Sow in March agreed to withdraw the resolution, after RBI agreed to “make disclosures” on its website in calendar 2016 about its policies on antibiotic use in livestock, covering its beef, pork and poultry supply chains.

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Environmental HealthAs You SowAntibiotics and Factory Farms
Butler: The beginner’s guide to taking on the system
Butler: The beginner’s guide to taking on the system

One of the earliest examples was a Catholic priest who used his stockholder prerogative to force R.J. Reynolds to stop aiming its “Joe Camel” advertising at kids. Then there was the activist group As You Sow, which prompted McDonald’s to stop using plastic foam cups for the 775 billion drinks sold per year. Considering that the ocean’s plastic will weigh more than the fish by 2050, this seems like a sensible step — but the kind of step corporations ruled by increasing quarterly profits are not inclined to take on their own.

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As You SowProxy Preview
Mutual Fund Giant Vanguard Flexes Its Muscles
Mutual Fund Giant Vanguard Flexes Its Muscles

Vanguard’s apparent support for the powers that be extends to compensation. According to an analysis from shareholder rights group As You Sow, Vanguard and BlackRock were the most likely of the 25 largest mutual fund families to support pay packages of highly paid CEOs—each voting in favor 97% of the time, vs. 78% for the industry overall. Vanguard, though, says it prefers to address CEO pay by influencing board composition. In the past year, it voted against 396 directors in the U.S. who served on compensation committees.

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CEO PayAs You Sow
McDonald's investor renews push for antibiotic reduction in all meat
McDonald's investor renews push for antibiotic reduction in all meat

The sisters are part of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which along with ShareAction, Farm Animal Investment Risk & Return (FAIRR) Initiative and As You Sow, also are targeting companies such as Sanderson Farms (SAFM.O) and Yum Brands Inc (YUM.N) with similar campaigns aimed at preserving the efficacy of antibiotics.

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Environmental HealthAs You SowAntibiotics and Factory Farms, McDonalds