Blog Archives
Executive pay ‘rubber stamping’ rife
Financial Times – May 8, 2016 – Pot, kettle, black — three words that typically describe hypocritical behaviour crop up frequently when discussing investor attitudes to executive pay.
Profits are Down at ExxonMobil, but Don’t Cry for CEO Rex Tillerson
The Washington Post – April 29, 2016 – After 10 years at the helm of the world’s biggest publicly owned oil company, Exxon Mobil chief executive Rex W. Tillerson has had mostly gloomy news for shareholders … MORE
Adjectives for shareholder advocates? How about strategic, impactful
GreenBiz – January 13, 2016 – I thank Bob Langert for adding to the discussion of shareholder advocacy in his recent GreenBiz article on shareholder proposals. Shareholder advocacy is a complex and nuanced undertaking, and Langert … MORE
Climate Change 2016: As Proxy Season Arrives, Shareholder Activists File Record Number Of Environmental Resolutions
International Business Times – April 7, 2016 – As major U.S. companies head into their annual shareholder meetings this spring, firms are facing a record number of proposals to curb corporate carbon emissions and prepare for the threats … MORE
BlackRock Wields Its Big Stick Like a Wet Noodle on C.E.O. Pay
The New York Times – April 15, 2016 – For several years, Laurence D. Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, the money management giant, has been on a crusade, exhorting corporations to change their short-term ways. … MORE
Overpaid CEOs Are Being Supported by Mutual Funds
FORTUNE – February 18, 2016 – Even as executive pay continues to grow mutual funds rarely vote against executive pay plans for the companies in which they hold shares.
Proxy Preview 2016
Proxy Preview 2016 covers social and environmental shareholder resolutions filed so far this proxy season, with political spending and climate change driving the majority of the activity. The report provides analysis and expert insight to help you navigate the issues and successfully vote your shares. MORE
RELEASE: Record Number of Climate and Corporate Political Spending Resolutions Dominate 2016 Shareholder Votes
With the international climate summit recently concluded and the 2016 U.S. election process now well underway, “Paris and politics” will frame much of this year’s proxy season, according to Proxy Preview 2016, a report released … MORE
Proxy Voting Guidelines 2016
The 2016 edition of our Proxy Voting Guidelines, written in consultation with Proxy Impact, offers socially responsible investors a resource to align their investments with their values. With advocacy positions on issues related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) proposals, our Guidelines provide an easy way to navigate the issues, learn what’s at stake, and make sure your vote is counted. MORE
RELEASE: Most Mutual Funds, Pensions Still Failing to Put the Brakes on America’s 100 Most Overpaid CEOs
AS YOU SOW RELEASE – February 17, 2015 – Leading mutual funds and pension funds so far have taken little action to curb the “extraordinary misallocation of assets” represented by the excessive compensation of America’s … MORE
The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs: Are Fund Managers Asleep at the Wheel? (2016)
CEO pay grew an astounding 997% over the past 36 years, greatly outpacing the growth in the cost of living, the productivity of the economy, and the stock market, disproving the claim that the growth in CEO pay reflects the “performance” of the company, the value of its stock, or the ability of the CEO to do anything but disproportionately raise the amount of his or her pay. MORE
Project Kaleidoscope: A Collaborative and Dynamic Approach to Code of Conduct Compliance
McDonald’s Corp., Walt Disney Co., and a group of organizations working to improve working conditions in company supply chains, including As You Sow, announced the release of a report on Project Kaleidoscope, a multi-year collaborative project designed to promote sustained compliance with labor standards mandated by corporate codes of conduct for manufacturers. MORE
Devon Energy – Executive Compensation – 2016
BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders of Devon Energy request that, to help ensure the Company responds appropriately to climate-change induced market changes, the Compensation Committee adopt a policy to not use “oil and gas reserve addition” … MORE
Celgene – Executive Compensation – 2016
BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board Compensation Committee prepare a report assessing the feasibility of integrating sustainability metrics into the performance measures of senior executives under Celgene’s compensation incentive plans. Sustainability is defined as … MORE
Vertex – Executive Compensation – 2016
BE IT RESOLVED: Shareholders request the Board Compensation Committee prepare a report assessing the feasibility of integrating sustainability metrics into the performance measures of senior executives under Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ compensation incentive plans. Sustainability is defined … MORE
State Street – Executive Compensation – 2016
BE IT RESOLVED: Shareowners request that the Board of Directors issue a report to shareholders by December 2016, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, which evaluates options for bringing its voting practices in line … MORE
Fossil Fuel Execs Have Little Financial Incentive To Fight Climate Change, Report Says
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES – September 2, 2015 – Marathon Oil Corp. CEO Lee Tillman took home a $1.7 million bonus last year, in part because of the company’s expansion into the Texas and North Dakota … MORE
The Fossil-Fuel Free Future of Mutual Funds
CNBC – November 2, 2015 – Investors are hungry for socially responsible mutual funds, and lately, it’s the ones that avoid fossil fuel stocks getting the most attention. It’s a trend that has gained momentum … MORE
Unearthing The Fossil Fuels In Mutual Funds
FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE – November 2, 2015 – If you’re into green investing, do you really know what’s in your portfolio? Andrew Behar, the CEO of As You Sow, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that works … MORE
Drilling in the Amazon and Arctic [TRANSCRIPT]
CLIMATE ONE – October 13, 2015 – Big Oil spends billions to squeeze fossil fuel from every nook and cranny of the globe. But is drilling in the Arctic and Amazon as profitable as they’d … MORE
Ameren – Executive Compensation – 2016
BE IT RESOLVED: The shareholders of Ameren urge the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors (the “Committee”) to adopt a policy requiring that senior executives retain a significant percentage of shares acquired through equity … MORE
RELEASE: New Web Tool Reveals Fossil Fuel Companies Hidden in Mutual Funds
AS YOU SOW RELEASE – September 15, 2015 – FossilFreeFunds.org was unveiled today by shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow, using Morningstar fund holding data, in collaboration with Fossil Free Indexes, Carbon Tracker Initiative, BrightScope, … MORE
Fossil Free Funds
Fossil Free Funds is a search platform that enables users to find out if their money, in the form of individual investments or an employer-provided 401(k), is being used to extract and consume fossil fuels. … MORE
Oracle – Executive Compensation – 2015
RESOLVED: Shareholders of Oracle Corporation (“Oracle”) hereby request the Board of Directors to take or initiate the steps necessary to amend the Company’s governing documents to provide that all matters presented to shareholders, other than … MORE
Blackrock, TIAA-CREF are Big Backers of ‘Overpaid’ CEOs
FINANCIAL TIMES – May 10, 2015 – BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and TIAA-CREF, the leading US retirement provider for teachers and university professors, are among the biggest supporters of high executive pay, according … MORE
Proxy Voting Guidelines 2015
Our Proxy Voting Guidelines, written in consultation with Proxy Impact, offers socially responsible investors a resource to align their investments with their values. With advocacy positions on issues related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) proposals, our Guidelines provide an easy way to navigate the issues, learn what’s at stake, and make sure your vote is counted. MORE
Unusual Perk: $62,000 Bill for a Curtailed Vacation
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL – Apr. 10, 2015 – Case in point: Discovery Communications Inc.’s $62,000 bill for a scotched vacation. The pay-television programmer’s proxy filing says in a footnote that its general counsel, Bruce … MORE
How to Engage Your Investors on ESG Issues in Proxy Season and Beyond
GREENBIZ – Apr. 08, 2015 – Spring brings a new proxy voting season, as shareholders exercise their right to raise issues of importance to company management, the board of directors and fellow shareholders. In recent … MORE
Climate Campaigners Losing Faith in Value of Engaging With Fossil Fuel Firms
THE GUARDIAN – Apr. 07, 2015 – It’s been 23 years since investor activists first tried to get the oil business to face up to the risks of climate change. Progress has been painfully slow … MORE
Pssst: Socially Responsible Investors Are Racking Up Wins This Year
COMPLIANCE WEEK – Apr. 07, 2015 – Relax and enjoy! You can soon have that morning donut without worrying about the nanotech particles that had been sprinkled atop as a whitening agent for the powdered … MORE
Shareholder Advocacy 101 at As You Sow
CONSCIOUS COMPANY MAGAZINE – Apr. 03, 2015 – Founded in 1992, As You Sow is a nonprofit that promotes environmental and social responsibility through the use of shareholder advocacy. So what actually is shareholder advocacy? … MORE
Executive Pension Gains Expand Proxy Tables
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL – Mar. 25, 2015 – Pension gains are swelling executive pay figures this year. Whether that matters to investors depends on who you ask. Some companies are downplaying the gains in … MORE
Climate Change, Political Lobbying High On Shareholders’ Agenda
TRIPLE PUNDIT – Mar. 24, 2015 – Historic droughts, record snowfalls, and the incidence of “superstorms” and other highly anomalous weather seem to be making a stronger impression, and having a greater impact, on those … MORE
Record Breaking Number of Shareowner Resolutions in 2015
SOCIAL FUNDS – Mar. 21, 2015 – The eleventh edition of As You Sow’s Proxy Preview identifies 433 shareowner resolutions filed this year, with corporate political activity and the environment accounting for slightly more than … MORE
Climate, Politics Key Shareholder Concerns, Report Says
FINANCIAL ADVISOR – Mar. 18, 2015 – Investors have filled 433 social and environmental resolutions so far this year, with climate change and political spending driving the most activity, according to a new report.
Proxy Preview 2015
Proxy Preview 2015 covers the record-breaking 433 social and environmental shareholder resolutions filed so far this proxy season, with political spending and climate change driving the majority of the activity. The report provides analysis and expert insight to help you navigate the issues and successfully vote your shares. MORE
Is Exorbitant CEO Pay a Form of Tyranny? Thomas Aquinas Thinks So
NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER – Mar. 16, 2015 – A combination of shareholder activism, academic rigor and religious support may be chipping away at exorbitant CEO pay, finding it bad for business and contrary to the … MORE
Shareholders Flood Fossil Fuel Companies With Climate Resolutions Again
INSIDE CLIMATE NEWS – Mar. 13, 2015 – U.S. oil and energy companies are facing a barrage of climate-related shareholder proposals this year, many of them demanding action or disclosures on low-carbon strategies, political spending … MORE
Shareholders Set to File Record Number of ESG-Related Proposals in 2015
IR MAGAZINE – Mar. 12, 2015 – Investors have filed a record number of shareholder proposals on ESG issues this year, with a focus on climate change and corporate political activity, according to the As … MORE
EXCLUSIVE: Q&A With Author Of ‘The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs
BENZINGA – Mar. 11, 2015 – With this clear, strong statement, researcher Rosanna Landis Weaver opens the “100 Most Overpaid CEOs: Executive Compensation in the S&P 500” report, published by the As You Sow Foundation.
