The DEI proposal was from liberal shareholder advocate As You Sow, while the abortion resolution came from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative investor. Both are frequent filers of environmental, social and governance proposals.
Read MoreThis week, Andy Behar, the CEO of As You Sow, joins Kim Griego-Kiel to talk about the nonprofit organization’s role in shaking up the business world with its innovative environmental and social justice approach. Listen in as Andy details the ins and outs of creating a more sustainable and equitable future for this and the years to come. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, an advocacy group, said that Citi is "a leader among other banks" when it comes to climate commitments. As You Sow has filed climate-related shareholder proposals at Citi and other banks. Read More →
Read More“The spread of the great transition that we're in the middle of is spreading out even further globally — that every country in the world will soon have major companies making major money employing major numbers of people as part of this global transformation,” As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar told Yahoo Finance. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, As You Sow’s president, discussed the non-profit’s engagement strategy: “We have been engaging with the banks for some time… asking them to measure their emissions and disclose their target setting. We didn’t file at all last year with banks, but have returned this year to work with them to find agreement on what would be an appropriate transition plan.” Read More →
Read MoreThat’s because Zaslav just scurried to the top of the list of America’s most overpaid chief executives published annually by the consumer advocacy group As You Sow. In 2021, when the total shareholder return of Zaslav’s company (then known as Discovery) declined by 22%, Zaslav’s compensation rocketed up to $246.6 million from $37.7 million the year before, a gain of 554%. Read More →
Read More“In 2016 we created the Clean200 in response to investors saying, ‘if we divest fossil fuels there is nothing to invest in,’” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and report co-author. “The Clean200 has demonstrated consistently that what we called the ‘clean energy’ future seven years ago is now the clean energy present. Read More →
Read More“A bunch of [TIAA’s] funds that are called social choice or low carbon or ESG have actually higher rates of fossil fuel investment than their regular annuities,” Levine, a member of TIAA-Divest!’s coordinating committee, said, citing information from Fossil Free Funds. Read More →
Read MorePoor pay designs "eventually come home to roost," said Rosanna Landis Weaver, a co-author of the annual study of "Overpaid CEOs" widely read by pay experts, especially as some companies award their leaders massive share packages.
Read MoreBut an investor advocacy group says some of the nation’s most well-known companies overpaid their chief executives. A new report from As You Sow listed 100 “overpaid” CEOs who received high compensation in 2022 despite mixed shareholder returns for their companies. Read More →
Read MoreShareholder activist group As You Sow, based in Berkeley, Calif., operates a free online fund-screening tool. For example, says chief executive Andrew Behar, an investor concerned about global rainforests could check whether a fund owns shares of companies that might source materials from rainforests, such as palm oil, rubber or timber. Read More →
Read More“Banks have made significant progress over the last five years, but they need to set policies and be more transparent about how they are reaching their climate goals,” said Danielle Fugere, president of activist shareholder As You Sow, which is part of the group that filed the resolutions. Read More →
Read MoreCompanies must file an annual EEO-1 form with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but are not required to make this information public. Doing so helps investors and other stakeholders evaluate corporate diversity initiatives. According to an As You Sow report, from August 2020 to October 2022, the number of S&P 100 companies publicly releasing their EEO-1 forms more than quadrupled. Read More →
Read MoreThe study based its analysis on a recent Wharton School of Business paper that found Texas taxpayers could have faced up to $532 million in additional interest payments because of restrictions introduced in that state. "Legislators will face the backlash of their constituents for flushing hundreds of millions of dollars down the toilet for their own political games," said Andrew Behar, CEO at shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, one of the backers of the study. Read More →
Read MoreSo far, there have been about five such proposals filed with banks over their transition plans for achieving their stated goals, said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. And insurance companies are increasingly being asked to set targets – resolutions have been brought at Chubb and Berkshire Hathaway, for example, she noted. Read More →
Read MoreAn estimated $32.3 trillion was invested in US retirement plans as of September 2022, with nearly $9 trillion in direct contribution plans such as 401(k)s, according to tracking by the Investment Company Institute. While many retirement plans funnel money into companies that fuel the climate crisis, explains Andrew Behar, chief executive officer of the shareholder activist group As You Sow, “people are just completely ignorant when it comes to what’s actually in their plan.” Read More →
Read MoreChristopher Gindlesperger, a spokesperson for the National Confectioners Association — which represents chocolate manufactures including Hershey's, Lindt and Godiva — referred NPR to its Dec. 16 statement, which said, "The products cited in this study are in compliance with strict quality and safety requirements, and the levels provided to us by Consumer Reports testing are well under the limits established by our settlement with As You Sow" Read More →
Read MoreFor lead, that will mean changes in harvesting and manufacturing practices, says Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. Such practices could include minimizing soil contact with beans as they lie in the sun, and drying beans on tables or clean tarps away from roads or with protective covers, so lead-contaminated dust won’t land on them. Another option is finding ways to remove metal contaminants when beans are cleaned at factories, Fugere says. Read More →
Read MoreAll these issues are related. Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, explains that most companies put employees who don’t choose specific investments into target-date funds for their retirement plans. (This is why they’re called the “default” option.) Such funds “are fairly high in high-carbon companies such as oil and gas,” Fugere says. In the past, companies have argued that Erisa prohibited them from addressing issues like climate change. A Trump-era rule previously banned consideration of ESG issues in decisions related to default options. Read More →
Read More“The broad message is that this fund is essentially not taking steps to consider climate risk,” says Andrew Montes, director of digital strategies at As You Sow. “So people are, probably without their knowledge, being exposed to significant levels of investment in companies that are both contributing to the climate crisis but also are at significant risk from the climate crisis.” Read More →
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