One of the most popular and easy-to-use tools is the online investment assessment tool from AsYouSow.org, “a non-profit foundation chartered to promote corporate social responsibility through shareholder advocacy,” called “Invest Your Values.” As You Sow promotes what it calls its “theory of change,” that forcing corporate leadership to address the impact of their policies and actions actually reduces the risk to corporations and shareholders. Read More →
Read MoreIn its supporting statement, As You Sow writes: ‘Quantitative data is sought so that investors can assess, understand and compare the effectiveness of companies’ [DE&I] programs and apply this analysis to investors’ portfolio management and securities’ selection process.’
The group cites studies including ones finding that companies with the strongest racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their industry medians, and that the 20 most diverse companies had an average annual five-year stock return 5.8 percent higher than the 20 least-diverse companies. Read More →
Read More“There’s never been a year with this number of high opposition votes against pay in the eight years of this report,” says Rosanna Landis Weaver, the report’s lead author. “Some boards acted as if pay for performance didn’t matter when COVID-19 was involved, and shareholders angrily rejected those packages.” But As You Sow argues that it’s time for more shareholders to reject excessive executive compensation simply because it’s “not in the best interests of shareholders,” and perhaps also immoral. Read More →
Read MoreProxy votes against executive pay at S&P 500 companies became more common last year and were often sparked by "questionable practices and metrics" like when companies eased performance targets during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters.
As companies begin to issue their proxy statements showing compensation details in coming months, some will have gotten the message they should not tweak formulas to leaders' advantage even if a crisis looms, said Rosanna Landis Weaver, one of the report's authors. Read More →
Read More“We are pleased to see the company increase its commitment to reusable bottles as a proven method to reduce single-use plastic waste and promote a circular economy for packaging,” said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president at As You Sow, which declared the move “industry-leading” among consumer conglomerates.
“We agree with the company that reusable packaging is among the most effective ways to reduce waste, use fewer resources and lower carbon emissions,” he said.
Read MoreGreen Century and activist investor As You Sow filed a shareholder proposal urging Coca-Cola to reduce single-use plastic. They are now considering whether to withdraw their proposal. Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar once again pens a letter to BlackRock’s CEO.
I particularly appreciate the creation of the “Center for Stakeholder Capitalism” as it answers the request As You Sow made in two shareholder resolutions for an implementation plan of the Business Roundtable pledge. This is exactly what we were looking for. You have my gratitude and personal offer to assist in any way to, “bring together leading CEOs, investors, policy experts, and academics to share their experience and deliver their insights”.
Read MoreThe University of California, San Diego, and the nonprofit sustainable-investing advocacy group As You Sow concluded that the linguistic patterns found in mutual fund and ETF prospectus language they reviewed has a relatively low correlation with its ESG rating. The collaborating teams spent four months analyzing 94 mutual funds and ETFs with “ESG” in their name.
“We see funds with ESG in their names getting F’s on our screening tools because they hold dozens of fossil fuel-extraction companies and coal-fired utilities,” said As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar.
Read MoreInvesting in ESG funds is like trying to navigate “the Wild West” as both regulations and enforcement fall short, according to Andrew Behar, the chief executive of As You Sow.
Read More"The theme is that investors are looking to all of their companies to address climate risk," said Danielle Fugere, the president and chief counsel of As You Sow.
Last year, 14 ESG resolutions backed by the sustainability advocacy group were voted on by shareholders of some of the nation’s largest companies, according to data compiled by the Manhattan Institute think tank. More than a quarter of As You Sow’s proposals were supported by those investors.
Read MoreBut even easier, you can use the databases compiled by the corporate accountability and shareholder advocacy nonprofit As You Sow—its Invest Your Values website offers several invaluable search tools for weighing the ethical and financial performance of up to 3,000 funds, updated monthly. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, a nonprofit, filed a shareholder proposal calling for greater board oversight of efforts to reduce harmful user-generated content. “Shareholders need to understand why these technological solutions continue to fail to protect civil society,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow.
Read More"Say on pay is underutilized," says Rosanna Landis-Weaver, who steers the Wage Justice & Executive Pay program at shareholder advocate As You Sow, which recently published a study on executive compensation and greenhouse gas emissions. Read More →
Read More“There are layers of intermediaries [in 401ks],” says Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, an ESG shareholder advocacy group. Read More →
Read MoreKelly McBee, waste program coordinator for As You Sow,, said she expected other manufacturers to follow in Apple and Microsoft’s footsteps. “I absolutely think we will see more of a domino effect,” she said. “These are two of the greatest players in this space, and they have set a new bar for their competitors.” Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, discusses the non-profit’s latest thinking on climate risk and the need for measurable net-zero emissions targets. Read More →
Read More"What that did was make it very difficult to bring reasonable proposals and to address issues of concern, like climate change, in a way that really moved the issue forward," said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group. Read More →
Read MoreShareholder advocacy non-profit As You Sow also welcomed the change, with the organisation’s President, Danielle Fugere, calling it a “timely and necessary” move which would help shareholders play a “critical role in ensuring companies are addressing issues that create risk and opportunity and can affect shareholder value”. Read More →
Read MoreIn the most recent year of data, Americans spent almost $9 billion on pesticides for agricultural use. Benchmarks outlined in a new report from As You Sow, titled “Pesticides in the Pantry: Transparency & Risk in Food Supply Chains,” identify the degree to which major food manufacturers have adopted practices to measure and mitigate risks related to the use of synthetic pesticides in agricultural supply chains. Read More →
Read More“This guidance, which underscores the [right of] shareholders to raise and vote on important issues, is timely and necessary,” Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, said in a statement. Read More →
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