"Most employees across the nation are unaware their retirement plan investments are profiting from environmentally and socially risky companies," As You Sow said in the report. "The financial risks include stranded assets, reputational risk, and other negative impacts of unsustainable business practices that can destroy shareholder value." Read More →
Read MoreIts latest tool evaluates specific companies’ 401(k) offerings. “There’s $10 trillion of assets, owned by 100 million people, that need to be looked at,” says Andy Behar, As You Sow's CEO. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow will scrutinize the S&P 500, arguing that companies with big Earth-friendly pledges, including Amazon and Comcast, offer funds full of polluters or social inequity. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, says in a statement: ‘Investors support this commitment by [GE] to take responsibility for the climate impact from use of its products and to transition to a more sustainable business model. Read More →
Read MoreIBD Senior Reporter Gillian Rich speaks with Danielle Fugere, president of the activist group As You Sow., to learn what's next after Chevron shareholders in May backed proposals for further emission cuts. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow’s Invest Your Values tools allow consumers to see which companies are part of their funds and decide if the holdings align with their values, such as climate issues, gender equality, guns, tobacco and more. Read More →
Read More“This is a positive trend,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “This year was probably the most extraordinary in terms of shareholder empowerment and shareholders actually showing up and using the power of their vote to express discontent with companies.“ Read More →
Read MoreThe new objective comes after GE investors in May overwhelmingly backed a shareholder proposal pushing the company to say whether it planned to reach net-zero by 2050. As You Sow, the shareholder advocacy group behind the push, also pushed the company to include emissions from the use of its products and its supply chain in its net zero goal, saying the company had been slow to address this category, undoubtedly the largest associated with the company. Read More →
Read MoreWhat the companies and large money managers did not mention is the entire ‘shareholder advocacy’ community of professionals. This includes faith-based, impact, and socially responsible investors, as well as non-profit shareholder advocates like As You Sow, the organisation of which I am CEO. Read More →
Read More“Microsoft positions itself as a leader on climate and the environment, yet facilitates premature landfilling of its devices by restricting consumer access to device reparability,” said Kelly McBee, the waste programme co-ordinator at As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreA review of top US companies from the Sustainable Investments Institute and partners As You Sow and Proxy Impact identified 34 majority votes this year for proposals regarding environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues. That's well above last year's record of 21 (and the number could keep growing). Read More →
Read More“This was a political rulemaking not warranted by the record or the evidence,” said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, a California shareholder activist group and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, a nonprofit that pushes for corporate accountability through shareholder action, is cautiously optimistic. “You can add new people to the board, but if the company stays on business as usual, then we haven’t solved anything,” says CEO Andrew Behar. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere is the president of the group As You Sow, which focuses on shareholder activism. She said it's a market reality that the world is taking climate change seriously. She said she thinks businesses should join the movement, instead of putting up a fight. "Because as climate change occurs, it impacts every company globally," said Fugere. "It makes it much more difficult to maintain business." Read More →
Read More“We are in the midst of a major transformation,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit focused on shareholder advocacy. While these votes are typically non-binding, boards could face a no-confidence vote from governance groups if they ignore them. “Investors who have traditionally abdicated their power have begun to use their power,” Behar said. Read More →
Read More“The big fund companies have a massive aggregation of power that comes from the investments of their shareholders,” said Andrew Behar, chief executive of As You Sow. “At the very least, the fund companies shouldn’t be allowed to vote if they have conflicts of interest.” Read More →
Read More“Shareholders have no patience for companies that are insulating executives from the effects of COVID,” said Rosanna Landis-Weaver, who authors an annual report urging opposition to CEO pay packages for As You Sow, in an interview. Read More →
Read MoreThe newly-passed proposal is one such step. Plastic pellets are the raw components of almost all plastic products, As You Sow explained in its release. These petrochemical building blocks are estimated to be the second-largest source of microplastics in the ocean by weight. It is believed that about 10 trillion of them are spilled into the environment every year. Read More →
Read More"Given the growing consensus on the material risks related to the climate crisis, investors seek assurance that company lobbying activities support, and do not block, policy solutions designed to help markets decarbonize," Lila Holzman, an energy expert at the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, said in an email. "It is no surprise that shareholder resolutions on this topic are seeing record high votes this year, and we absolutely expect this trend to continue." Read More →
Read MoreAlready this AGM season, a majority of American Express investors voted in support of a shareholder resolution filed by NGO As You Sow, which asks the company to report on how its internal workplace practices align with its stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Read More →
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