DuPont Faces Shareholder Demands to Report Plastic Pellet Spills

As You Sow, an advocacy group that filed the resolution, said the vote won the backing of stockholders representing some 81% of the company's shares. That is a record amount of support for an environmental shareholder proposal opposed by the top brass at a publicly traded corporation, according to the Sustainable Investments Institute. Read More →

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From Berkshire Hathaway to Silicon Valley, little to show for diversity pledges, critics say

The conglomerate run by famed investor Warren Buffett is opposing a shareholder proposal calling on its board to publish an annual report detailing its diversity and inclusion efforts. Proposed by the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow on behalf of Handlery Hotels, it contends that more diverse workplaces are more profitable, more likely to outperform against competitors and have higher stock returns. Read More →

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How to choose an ESG fund: ‘Don’t trust the picture on the package,’ expert says

It may not be readily apparent how a fund incorporates ESG factors into its strategy. Take the BlackRock U.S. Carbon Transition Readiness ETF, which attracted $1.25 billion of investor dollars when it launched in mid April. “The people who invested in that fund thought they were addressing climate risk,” says Andrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow. “Instead they got business as usual,” he says, including energy and fossil fuel giants. Read More →

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What the Media’s Most Powerful Execs Were Paid in 2020: Did Pandemic Pay Cuts Have an Impact?

“It was largely cosmetic,” says Rosanna Landis Weaver, program manager of the CEO pay program at shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “Most of these companies issued huge press releases announcing they were doing something good by getting rid of their CEO salaries. They didn’t make big announcements when those salaries returned.” Read More →

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Why ‘Greenwashing' Is an Issue for Sustainable Investments—and How to Avoid It

As You Sow, a nonprofit that promotes corporate social responsibility, also created the Invest Your Values search tools, which investors can use to learn more about their investments. Investors can search the name or symbol of mutual funds or ETFs in one of six search tools, including Deforestation Free Funds and Fossil Free Funds, and will be provided with a "report card" on the fund related to the issue. Read More →

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Keurig Dr Pepper commits to cutting new plastic use in packaging

Keurig Dr Pepper has agreed to cut its use of virgin plastic packaging by 25% by 2025, according to a press release from nonprofit As You Sow. The company will reach this goal by "increasing use of recycled content, elimination of unnecessary material, redesign of packaging, and exploration of reuse models," the group said. Read More →

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How to keep your retirement investments gun-free

Andrew Behar is the CEO of the nonprofit As You Sow, a watchdog and investor advocacy group that provides resources for those interested in more socially responsible investing. As You Sow's Invest Your Values tool helps investors rate and reference where their money is going, and covers a wide range of topics: environmentally-friendly investing, gender equality funds, prison-free funds, and gun and other weapon-free funds. Read More →

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Analysis: Millennials and global consumers push U.S. companies to get political

Some companies that are reluctant to criticize specific laws or policies are still willing to come out with more general statements. For example, roughly 330 of the 500 companies in the S&P 500 Index issued comments last year in support of social justice in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in the custody of Minneapolis police, according to shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. Read More →

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Companies say Black Lives Matter. Investors say Prove it.

Roughly 20 companies face such proposals this year, including eight banks, Johnson & Johnson, Foot Locker and Monster Beverage, according to the 2021 Proxy Preview produced by Si2, As You Sow and Proxy Impact. In short, the resolutions ask these companies to report on how their business practices harm people of color and what they plan to do about it. Read More →

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Shareholders Demand Action On Social Justice, Proxy Report Says

“2020 showed us that ‘business as usual’ no longer exists. Shareholder proponents expect escalated action and not just words,” Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and publisher of the report, said in a statement. “The 2021 proposals offer ideas for transforming the deep-rooted challenges that threaten businesses and the entire global economy, including climate change and systemic racism.” Read More →

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