The result of a three-year study by a multi-disciplinary panel of four experts into the sources of lead and cadmium in cocoa and chocolate - and how levels may be reduced in the future - has been published by the National Confectioners Association (NCA) and nonprofit organization As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreThe maker of Gillette razors and Downy fabric softener agreed to disclose the data after a campaign from the nonprofit As You Sow, which promotes environmental and social issues at large, public companies. P&G, which confirmed the deal, joins companies such as Nike Inc. that have agreed to share data on efforts to hire and promote under-represented groups. Read More →
Read MoreAlternatively, investors can also use As You Sow’s website to gauge how well their current investments align with their values. They can type in a fund’s ticker symbol, which generates a fund score according to different value categories. Read More →
Read More"We are concerned that the Proposal's division of funds into three separate categories does not reflect the reality of how fund managers incorporate ESG factors in investment and stewardship decision-making, which could increase compliance costs," As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar said in a letter to the SEC. Read More →
Read MoreThough the proportion of withdrawals is similar to past years, the sheer number is higher because of the record 610 resolutions filed this year, said Heidi Welsh, the executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks shareholder activism.
“I do think this means that many companies were willing to discuss the issues with proponents, and the result of this engagement was win-win on both sides,” Welsh said. Read More →
Read MoreIt’s the next layer of detail that offers investors a glimpse on how well companies are utilizing employees from minority groups, according to Meredith Benton, workplace equity program manager at As You Sow.
“It’s not whether an employee can make it in the door, it’s will they stay once they are there,” Benton said. Read More →
Read MoreAdvisers or investors can access tools from Morningstar or advocacy groups like As You Sow to identify holdings in these gun companies. Typically, the exposure is very small, and avoiding these companies does not change the risk and return characteristics of a portfolio in a material way. Read More →
Read MoreE.S.G. supporters say critics may have a point. Andrew Behar, C.E.O. of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, agrees that many supposed E.S.G. investments don’t reflect true sustainability — with ever more capital directed toward the idea and many funds failing to live up to their promises. Read More →
Read MoreCalifornia is taking aim at the plastics industry in an effort to reduce pollution and tackle climate change. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the nation's toughest rules on plastics reduction into law last week, requiring all packaging in the state to be recyclable or compostable by 2032, cutting plastic packaging by 25 percent in 10 years, and requiring 65 percent of all single-use plastic packaging to be recycled in the same timeframe. Kelly McBee, Waste Program Coordinator at As You Sow, explains the potential impact this law could have on reducing plastic pollution across the country. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow is another organization that can help investors find funds that are fossil fuel-free, gender-equal, gun-free, prison-free, weapons-free and tobacco-free, for example. It maintains rankings of the top funds by category. Alternatively, investors can also use As You Sow’s website to gauge how well their current investments align with their values. They can type in a fund’s ticker symbol, which generates a fund score according to different value categories. Read More →
Read MoreBy constraining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, the court put responsibility on investors looking to slow climate change, said Andrew Behar, chief executive of the nonprofit group As You Sow, a which often files shareholder resolutions. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, joins the podcast to discuss the power of using shareholder advocacy to drive change at large corporations. Andrew walks us through “a day in the life,” specifically May 25, 2022, when his team presented resolutions at five corporate annual meetings on issues ranging from climate change to racial justice; Andrew talks about the SEC’s new draft rule that addresses the ESG naming problem within mutual funds; and the paradox of employees unknowingly investing in companies that are destroying the Amazon through company retirement plans. Read More →
Read MoreEven since 2021, Conrad MacKerron, As You Sow’s senior vice president, said that he’s observed a significant jump in support for plastics-related shareholder resolutions. “We saw a real shift,” he told Grist, including a 14 percent spike in yes votes for this year’s Amazon resolution compared to a similar proposal filed last year. Read More →
Read MoreThe bill doesn’t yet have any Democratic co-sponsors so its future is uncertain. Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy organization, says it is unlikely the bill will pass. Instead, he thinks it’s a “warning shot” to BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard to start to vote differently. Read More →
Read MoreSustainability advocates say they aren’t concerned about the spike in conservative shareholder resolutions. “If they’re bona fide shareholders, they have a right to file a resolution and all shareholders will vote on it,” said Andrew Behar, the CEO of As You Sow. “That’s part of capitalism.” Read More →
Read More“Investors are rightly getting frustrated with the excessive pay given to executives,” says Rosanna Weaver, who analyzes executive compensation shareholder proposals for As You Sow, a non-profit shareholder advocacy organization. “We’re seeing a shift in that some shareholders are flat out saying this pay is too much.” Read More →
Read MoreThe nonbinding resolution lost, with investors representing 55 percent of company shares voting against the proposal at AT&T's urging. But Meredith Benton of Oakland, California-based As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy nonprofit, said the vote tally was unusually high and predicted that the company's leadership would take it seriously. Read More →
Read More“It’s in people’s self-interest to try to contain this,” Rosanna Landis Weaver, wage justice and executive pay program senior manager at As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder-advocacy group, told Fortune in May. “The political instability created by income inequality is a real danger. It’s a danger to democracy, and it’s a danger to capitalism.” Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, says companies that adopt a stakeholder capitalism framework to benefit more than just shareholders will create lasting value for all stakeholders and strengthen the bottom line. “If it’s good for the employees; good for the customers; good for the community; and good for the supply chain; it’s generally good for the business, which means it’s good for shareholders,” he told me during a recent conversation as part of my research on purpose-driven business. Read More →
Read MoreAnd it’s up from early predictions in Proxy Preview, a sweeping report compiled by nonprofits As You Sow, Proxy Impact, and Si2. The number of proposals “tightly focused” on climate change alone rose to 113 from 85 last year and 68 in 2020, according to Si2. Six of 17 shareholder proposals that won a majority vote (so far) are tied to racial justice. And issues directly tied to workers like safety were on 65 ballots going into the season, Proxy Preview found. The calculations are derived from regulatory filings with official vote counts, so aren’t final. Read More →
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