Press Hits - posts — As You Sow

Proxy season 2022: The story behind falling support for ESG proposals

According to a report from Proxy Impact, the Sustainable Investments Institute and As You Sow, the six months to the end of June saw a record-breaking 282 votes and 34 majority votes (equal to the same period last year) backing ESG shareholder proposals seeking disclosure and action from US companies. This backs the widespread narrative of recent years that ESG-linked investing and pressure on companies to meet expectations on issues such as climate change and diversity continue unabated. Read More →

Shareholder AdvocacyAs You SowSeptember 27, 2022shareholder impact report, proxy season

BlackRock and its ESG woes

“No one is looking at the actual holdings. They’re not looking at the flow of capital. They’re looking at the label,” said Andy Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “If they renamed all their ESG funds … that would probably make the people in Texas and the red states happy.” Read More →

Invest Your ValuesAs You SowSeptember 6, 2022homepage, ESG, esg funds, Andrew Behar, blackrock, BlackRock

Special Report: How to Reduce Cadmium IN Cocoa

Special Report: How to Reduce Cadmium IN Cocoa

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 →

Toxic EnforcementAs You SowSeptember 2, 2022homepage, chocolate

What to know about adding a ‘green’ investment fund to your portfolio, now that Biden signed historic climate bill

What to know about adding a ‘green’ investment fund to your portfolio, now that Biden signed historic climate bill

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 →

Invest Your ValuesAs You SowAugust 19, 2022homepage, invest your values, 401k

ESG fund disclosures should be streamlined, investor and advocacy groups tell SEC

"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 →

Environmental HealthAs You SowAugust 19, 2022ESG, Andrew Behar, SEC

Shareholder activists make inroad

Shareholder activists make inroad

Though 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 →

Proxy PreviewAs You SowJuly 28, 2022homepage, Heidi Welsh, proxy season

Investors have guns in their sights

Advisers 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 →

Invest Your ValuesAs You SowJuly 27, 2022homepage, gun free funds

Big Tech and the Fed

Big Tech and the Fed

E.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 →

Environmental HealthAs You SowJuly 27, 2022homepage, ESG, Andrew Behar

California Takes Aim At Plastics Industry With New Law

California Takes Aim At Plastics Industry With New Law

California 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 →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJuly 5, 2022homepage, Kelly McBee, plastic waste

Supreme Court limited EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Supreme Court limited EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

As 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 →

Invest Your ValuesAs You SowJuly 5, 2022homepage, invest your values

Green investors to step up pressure on U.S. utilities after court ruling

Green investors to step up pressure on U.S. utilities after court ruling

By 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 →

EnergyAs You SowJuly 1, 2022homepage, Andrew Behar, supreme court, climate

Holding Management to Account

Andrew 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 →

Shareholder AdvocacyAs You SowJune 23, 2022homepage, Andrew Behar, ESG, Amazon

Nearly half of Amazon shareholders agree: Time to cut back on plastic packaging

Nearly half of Amazon shareholders agree: Time to cut back on plastic packaging

Even 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 →

Waste, Circular EconomyAs You SowJune 14, 2022homepage, Conrad MacKerron, amazon, plastic waste

Proposed Legislation Promises to Empower Investors. What to Know.

The 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 →

Proxy PreviewAs You SowJune 14, 2022homepage, Andrew Behar, Index Act

Conservative shareholders attack ‘climate clown show’

Sustainability 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 →

EnergyAs You SowJune 10, 2022homepage, climate, proxy season, Andrew Behar

Investors Are Finally Pushing Back on Massive CEO Pay Hikes

Investors Are Finally Pushing Back on Massive CEO Pay Hikes

“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 →

CEO PayAs You SowJune 9, 2022homepage, Rosanna Landis Weaver, wage