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Briefs Archive
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New Sustainable Transportation ETF to be Launched on NASDAQ
Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC plans to list its PowerShares Global Progressive Transportation Portfolio on the NASDAQ Stock Market on September 18, 2008. To be traded under the ticker PTRP, the portfolio is an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is based on the Wilder NASDAQ OMX Global Energy Efficient Transport Index. An index-based exchange-traded fund seeks to replicate the movements of an index of a financial market. The Wilder Index tracks innovative and energy efficient transportation by focusing on businesses that are engaged in cleaner and improved means of transporting goods and people. It includes a global group of companies engaged in four focus areas: alternative vehicles; rail and subway systems; sea, land, air and intermodal; and transport innovation.
Google Heats Up Next Generation Geothermal Energy
More than $10 million in investments and grants will flow from Google.org into Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) technology. Google is also supporting research into governmental policies on geothermal energy and next generation geothermal resource mapping.
Fixed Income Classes Get Indexes with ESG Performance Factors
The KLD US Corporate Bond (USCB) Index series is the first US index that applies environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to fixed income asset classes. Launched by KLD Research & Analytics, Ryan ALM, and Mergent, the indexes are available as 1-3 years, 1-5 years and 1-10 years bond indexes.
Investors Still Supporting Clean Energy
London-based New Energy Finance (NEF) reports record high investments by venture capital and private equity investment in the clean energy sector from April to June. $5.8 billion in venture and private equity was invested in clean energy during the second quarter, more than double the $2.6 billion invested during the first quarter of the year.
Charities Should Match Investments to Missions Says 83% of Public
Eighty-three percent of the general public would give less money to a charity if they knew the charity was not investing it ethically, says a newly released survey by the EIRIS Foundation. More than nine out of ten people surveyed agreed with statement “charities should be investing their money in an ethically or socially responsible way.”
Half of S&P 100 Companies Published Sustainability Reports in 2007
Over a third of the companies found on the S&P 100 are using the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines finds the third annual report from the Sustainable Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN), a working group of the Social Investment Forum (SIF).
Report Names Most Controversial Companies
ArcelorMittal, Citigroup, Chevron, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), ExxonMobil, Nestlé, Samsung, Shell, Total, and Wal-Mart were red-flagged by ECOFACT as the most controversial companies in the world. The companies were routinely in the news and criticized by non-governmental organizations in the first half of this year. The RRI is designed to help investors gauge a company’s relationship to controversial issues and the risks associated with them.
Cleantech Index Goes Global
Adding 33 new companies and dropping three, Cleantech Group has refocused the Cleantech Index (ticker: CTIUS) to reflect global growth in clean tech companies. The two ETFs, including PowerShares Cleantech Portfolio (ticker: PZD), linked to the Cleantech Index as well as structured products will reflect this change. Global companies now make up around half of the Index of 76 companies. CTIUS saw 2007 total returns of 42.9%. The 2008 second quarter returns were 8.2%.
UN PRI Stresses Disclosure
Firms and fund managers who have signed onto the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) could be expelled if they don’t follow through with its disclosure provisions.
Community Reinvestment Fund’s Largest Security Offering Ever
Minneapolis-based Community Reinvestment Fund USA (CRF) reports that its largest ever issue equaling $62 million has been fully subscribed, showing investor interest in community development products. Community development funds are stepping in to fill the void left as more traditional leaders are limiting their small business lending. $47 million of the $62 million offering received an AAA rating from Standard & Poor’s. The offering was placed through the securities firm Piper Jaffray & Company.
Spare Change Adds Up for Microfinance
The title of the campaign comes from idea that the average American has about $100 in spare change and that a microfinance loan of as little as $100 can be enough to help a person start a new business and get out of poverty. Investors in the “Small change. Big Change” Campaign can track the impact of their investment online and read stories from people who received the loans.
More Companies in Emerging Markets Create Corporate Governance Websites
English-speaking investors and stakeholders can investigate the environmental, social, and governance policies of an increasing pool of large cap-companies headquartered in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) Countries finds the tenth semi-annual Survey of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) released by the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) Program. PFS found that, following the trend of previous PFS surveys, there is growing online disclosure of ESG information offered in English, specifically in the social policy arena. However, more information on corporate environmental policies needs to be released in CEE companies' annual reports. Overall, the companies in BRIC had more English language websites and provided more disclosures than CEE companies. As of April 15, 2008, 26% of CEE companies offered online ESG reports in English while 42.5% of BRIC companies offered ESG reports online in English.
New Social Awareness Index Started
Investors have a new tool to screen for socially responsible companies with the May 1 launch of Credit Suisse's Social Awareness Index. The list of companies was created using Innovest Strategic Value Advisors' Global Plus Screen applied to Credit Suisse HOLT database of international companies. The Innovest screen is based on the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact, which cover anti-corruption, environment, human rights, and labor standards.
Nine More Countries Added to MicroPlace
Mexico, Peru, and South Africa have been added to the countries investors can invest in at MicroPlace. MicroPlace offers online microfinance investment opportunities for investors to help the working poor in twenty countries while generating financial returns. Investments with MicroPlace have generated 20,000 loans all over the world since it started in October 2007. MicroPlace is a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay (ticker: EBAY).
The Toxic 100: New Report on Polluting Companies Hopes to Empower Communities and Shareholders
“Better living through chemistry” was the famed slogan of E.I. du Pont de Nemours (ticker: DD), but the company tops the list of most toxic polluting corporations operating in the US, according to a just-released report from the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts. The Toxic 100 index updates a previous version released in 2005. It’s got plenty of company: some of the most famous brands in the world also top the list. Following on Dupont’s heels are Nissan, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bayer (Bayer), and Dow Chemical (DOW). It remains to be seen whether DuPont will still be high on the list when the next Toxic 100 Index is released. The Louisville, KY plant responsible for more than half of its Toxic 100 score (due to its large emission of the highly carcinogenic chemical chloroprene) is now closed, but its operations were moved to La Place, LA. That prompted concerns by the United Steel Workers Union the hazard was not being reduced, but merely being moved. According to a statement to SocialFunds.com by DuPont spokesperson Lori Captain, the company had already reached a goal of reducing air carcinogen emissions by 92% in 2004 and plans to reduce them by another 50% by 2015. However, interpreting what that really means isn’t easy. Were those reductions mostly of highly carcinogenic compounds, or less hazardous chemicals? Did the reductions occur in a facility in or near a large city where potentially many thousands could be exposed or in a sparsely populated rural area? What track could a given chemical’s plume follow when released? Would it be a Bhopal-like disaster—you’d certainly want 92% reductions, or more, in that case—or a release with low risk of actual harm? Those are questions PERI’s Corporate Toxics Information Project researchers tackled in their new report. They took data from the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), which records only the total pounds of a chemical’s release from a facility. Then they matched it to Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) and prevailing wind data to come up with a weighted index showing the impact of toxic releases on the health of those exposed in surrounding communities. Since a facility reporting an environmental release may have a different name than its parent company, the researchers also matched firms to owners. For example, Angus Chemical Company reported significant releases of the chemical 2-nitropane, known to cause cancer and suspected of a host of other serious health hazards. Dow Chemical is the parent company. “It’s important for shareholders to know who’s responsible,” PERI’s Corporate Toxics Information Project co-director Michael Ash told SocialFunds.com. The goal of The Toxic 100 is to give stakeholders “right-to-know” (RTK) information needed to evaluate risks, whether health risks to residents or financial risks to managers and shareholders of companies. The right to information about environmental hazards was codified into law in 1986 in response to the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India, which killed more than 15,000 people and injured up to 100,000. However, in recent years the U.S. government has tightened access to such information, citing terrorism concerns and fears that reporting requirements are too “burdensome” for companies. Restricting access to chemical release information could threaten continued progress made in reducing toxic air pollution since the RTK law was enacted, Ash says. Describing The Toxic 100 as an “environmental integrity project,” Ash said PERI hoped it would increase pressure on the EPA to have more effective monitoring and control. The report has made several improvements over the 2005 version. Foreign firms operating in the US are included for the first time, including Bayer and Nissan (NSANY) in the top five polluters. (In a statement to SocialFunds.com, Nissan spokesperson Fred Standish said that “inaccurate reporting” was the reason the company received the score it did in the Toxics 100 index and that revision of the data would “decrease Nissan’s ranking, perhaps to the point of being dropped entirely from the list.”) Visitors to the report’s website can find out what went into each company’s score, such as the names and locations of reporting facilities, the chemicals released, and how toxic they are. The site also features a “look-up tool” giving users access to information on all 7,000 companies in the EPA database used by the researchers. The authors hope that by using a consumer, market-oriented approach, The Toxic 100 will help stakeholders such as residents, shareholders and managers of companies, workers and unions, and consumers concerned about toxics in products or used in their production, create incentives for companies to have more accurate reporting. Ash told SocialFunds.com, “Our aim is not to name and shame, but to improve corporate environmental performance.”
2008 Proxy Season Preview Whets Shareholders Appetites
The Proxy Season Preview 2008 is a resource for investors that covers this year’s hottest social, governance, and environmental issues to be voted on at shareholder annual meetings. Released by As You Sow, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, the Preview is available for free at their websites.
Sentinel Investments Creates Two New Sustainable Funds
Almost $740 million in assets and 20,000 shareholder accounts transferred from Citizens Funds to Sentinel Investments with the completion of Sentinel’s acquisition of Citizens Funds. Headquartered in Montpelier, VT, Sentinel Investments is the investment management branch of National Life Group. The Sentinel sustainable funds will continue to apply Citizens’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) screens and proxy voting guidelines. However, the four Citizens Funds (Citizens Global Equity Fund, Citizens Balanced Fund, Citizens Income Fund and Citizens Money Market Fund), which were reorganized into existing Sentinel Funds, will no longer have ESG screens applied.
Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards Released
Seventy-five companies, cities, states, and non-profits have joined the Climate Registry to make their greenhouse gas emissions public. Members of the Climate Registry now have the tools and rules to make that reporting possible. Reporting emissions will help companies and organizations manage carbon risks and be better prepared to take part in carbon trading markets.
Citi Addressing Climate Change
Citigroup (ticker: C) has already made its mark in 2008 on the issues of climate change and sustainability. In February, Citi Bank, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley jointly released the Carbon Principles. The Carbon Principles offer guidelines for lenders to US power companies, in light of the increase in financial risks power companies are expecting from pending carbon regulations. In January, Ceres’ report “Corporate Governance and Climate Change: the Banking Sector” was released. The report scored Citi as the highest ranked US bank for their climate change governance practices.
New Northern Trust Sustainability Mutual Fund
Northern Trust launched the Northern Global Sustainability Index Fund on March 5th, the first mutual fund to follow the KLD Global Sustainability Index (GSI). The fund includes companies in 24 developing markets that pass KLD's sustainability screens. The GSI tracks 693 mid cap and large cap companies in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Currently, Northern Trust manages over $20 billion in socially screened assets.
Shareholders Vote For Genocide-free Investing
In the first of its kind vote on genocide-free mutual funds, 27% of shareholders at Fidelity's Capital and Income Fund and 28% of shareholders at its Select Health Care Portfolio voted for a genocide-free investing proposal. Shareholder activists report they are pleased with the high number of votes cast for the proposal. The proposals ask for procedures to screen out companies who "substantially contribute" to genocide. Other organizations working on passing the proposals include the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Physicians for Human Rights, American Jewish World Service, Genocide Intervention Network, The ENOUGH Project, The Aegis Trust and the Unitarian Universalist Association. US companies are already prohibited from doing business with the Sudan government and Sudan oil companies. However, US investors and mutual funds can still buy shares of foreign companies that trade on US stock markets, such as PetroChina, that profit from Sudanese oil.
What Companies Talk About When They Talk About Climate Change
How companies communicate their climate change goals and data is studied in a new report from CorporateRegister.com, the largest provider of online corporate responsibility reports. Looking at corporate sustainability reports from the Global FT500, the "Corporate Climate Communications Report 2007" assesses climate change disclosure as a separate issue from a company's actual carbon performance.
New Pax Products on the Way
Pax World recently announced that they have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with KLD Research & Analytics. Pax will be creating a series of funds based on the KLD Global Sustainability Index (GSI), KLD North America Sustainability Index (NASI) and KLD Europe Asia Pacific Sustainability Index (EAPSI).
Responsible Businesses are More Competitive
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) isn't just a PR move for businesses, states a new survey conducted for IBM entitled, "Attaining Sustainable Growth Through Corporate Social Responsibility." CSR is a way for businesses to be more competitive and create more opportunities, leading to growth. Sixty-eight percent of businesses surveyed said that focusing on CSR issues generates revenue, while 54% of businesses said that CSR helps give them a competitive edge. The number of advocacy groups reporting on companies CSR activities has grown substantially in the last three years, 75% of businesses noted, as has the amount of information businesses are providing about the environmental and social impact of their manufacturing, supply chain, and products.
Economics Push Green Technology
Technology companies are responding to calls to lessen their environmental impact. In a recent study released from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 40% of technology executives said that "significant market opportunities" are arising from the green movement as consumers ask for more environmentally friendly products. Technology companies are looking at their supply chains for greener practices as well. Likewise, tech companies are working to minimize their own internal environmental risks. Both hardware and software tech companies are effected by the green movement. Hardware companies are working to reduce waste, use recycled materials and eliminate hazardous materials. Software companies are creating programs for businesses to reduce their energy use and shrink their carbon footprints.
US Carbon Trading on the Way
Economists at New Carbon Finance predict that in less than two decades the US will have a huge carbon emissions market, topping out at $1 trillion, more than twice the EU’s Emissions trading scheme. New Carbon Finance reports that cap and trade systems for carbon seems inevitable with the largest purchasers of greenhouse gas emission credits being coal burning power plants and oil refiners. All of the leading presidential candidates have endorsed carbon emissions reductions. Federal climate change regulations would most likely also include trade sanctions on imports from countries that do not have mandatory carbon emissions caps.
New York City Fights Workplace Discrimination
In an announcement at The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Manhattan at the end of January, New York City Comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr. and the New York City Pension Funds put their support behind proposals at major companies barring discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The NYC comptroller filed the resolutions on behalf of New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS), New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, New York City Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) and New York City Board of Education Retirement System.
Two New Indexes of SRI Interest
Standard & Poor's in partnership with CRISIL, KLD Research & Analytics, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently launched the S&P ESG India Index. The new index includes 50 Indian companies that pass a strict environmental, social and governance (ESG) screens. FTSE, working with Impax, an environmental investment manager, has created the FTSE ET50 Index, which includes 50 of the largest pure play environmental technology companies. These global companies have an investable market cap of $161 billion. The majority of the companies included in the index are alternative energy and energy efficiency companies. The top ten listing in the FSTE ET50 include Vestas Wind Systems, Suntech Power Holdings, First Solar, Gamesa, Iberdrola Renovables, SolarWorld AG, Novozymes A/S, Q-CELLS, Stericycle, and Pall Corp.
Intel Vows to Buy Green Energy
With the recent announcement that it will buy 1.3 billion kilowatt hours a year of renewable energy certificates (RECs), Intel leads in US green energy use, reports the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA's Green Power Partnership program works with companies, state and federal governments, and colleges and universities to help increase the use of renewable energy.
Vast Majority of Emerging Market Companies Disclose Their Sustainability Efforts
Eighty-seven percent of companies in emerging markets have at least some kind of sustainability disclosure finds a new report from the Social Investment Research Analyst Network (SIRAN) and KLD Research & Analytics. Just over half of the 75 companies surveyed published a sustainability report while 81% of companies addressed sustainability issues on their websites and/or in their annual reports.
100 Most Sustainable Global Corporations Published
Corporate Knights and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors announced their annual list of the top 100 large-cap sustainable companies. Companies were rated on how well they consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in comparison to other companies within their industries. Corporate Knights reported that 68 of the 100 corporations found on last year's roll remain on this year's list of sustainable companies.
Coke To Try Smaller Delivery Trucks
ZAP Trucks and the Coca-Cola Company are partnering in Uruguay to create a new beverage distribution system in Uruguay's largest city, Montevideo. The new smaller trucks have electric engines and can maneuver in more congested city environments. ZAP and Coca-Cola report that the new distribution model uses about 1/5 of Coca-Cola's former distribution system. If the new distribution model works in Montevideo, Coca-Cola is looking at implementing it in other urban areas.
Sharing Patents for the Planet
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and IBM are leading a collaboration of major businesses in establishing a place to share environmentally friendly patents. Entitled the "Eco-Patent Commons," the venture is an online space available to the public. Nokia, Pitney Bowes, and Sony have also pledged to release patents into the "Eco-Patent Commons." The "Commons" is open to more environmentally friendly patents at the discretion of the organization.
The Climate Group Grows
The Climate Group has four powerful new partners in its mission of advancing business and government leadership on climate change. The international non-profit saw Goldman Sachs, Dow Chemical, Bloomberg LP and Florida Power and Light sign onto its principles in December. The Climate Group works with partners to create positive change, focusing on how businesses can become low or no carbon while still being profitable.
Bush Signs Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act
Human rights activists are counting it a victory that President George W. Bush signed into law the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act of 2007 (SADA) on December 31, 2007. The new law prohibits federal contracts with companies that support the Khartoum government of Sudan. It also authorizes state and local governments to divest from Sudan.
New SIF Board Chair Elected
The Social Investment Forum (SIF) is the national association for the social investment industry. Smith is executive vice president and senior portfolio manager at Trillium Asset Management. Cheryl Smith is taking the reins from Tim Smith (no relation) who was SIF chair from 2002-2007 and who will remain active in the organization.
Indigenous People Rights Threatened by Companies
Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS) and CAER recently released the paper, “Indigenous rights, indigenous wrongs: risks for resource sectors.” The paper outlines the opportunities and trials for companies that operate in the areas where indigenous people live. Looking at seven large companies that operate in these areas, EIRIS and CAER report that while most of the companies show some basic public commitment to indigenous rights, none of the companies are doing enough to protect rights of indigenous people. Looking at the high-risk sectors, the paper reports that the oil and gas sectors were more responsive than the forestry and agriculture sectors to indigenous rights.
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange Updates its SRI Index
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has partnered with Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS) in enhancing its Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index. The four-year old index measures the environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices of South African companies. Besides ESG issues, the index also considers issues that are pertinent to its local economies, for instance, black economic empowerment, skills development, and HIV/Aids. The index now will include the criteria endorsed by the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and FTSE4Good’s Environmental Criteria as well.
Charitable Giving Remains Important for Companies
Although companies’ social responsibility programs have been in the news in recent years, a survey developed by Robert Half Management Resources shows that companies have been actively giving back to their communities and non-profits for years. Seventy-three percent of CFOs surveyed said that charitable giving and other corporate social responsibility programs are important to their companies. These programs not only attract and keep engaged workforces, socially responsible programs also augment companies’ reputations.
ICCR Warns Against Video Game Violence
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) reminds holiday shoppers to be cautious when buying video games for children. ICCR reports that 80% of video games are sold during the holiday season. In its annual Holiday Letter, the ICCR outlines the retailer chart regarding the rating system for video games created by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESBR). “Mature” (M) rated video games may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language and are not appropriate for children. ICCR has been working for over five years with retailers on creating industry best practices for selling video games and protecting children from mature themed video games.
Google Puts Big Money into Green Energy
Google recently announced its new initiative to decrease the cost of green energy. The company will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the new program to reduce pollution that Google has named “RE.” Hiring engineers with experience in energy, Google plans to invest in solar, wind and geothermal power systems to produce a “gigawatt” of green power in the next several years. A “gigawatt” of energy is enough to power a city the size of San Francisco. Its goal is to make green energy cost less per kilowatt than energy produced from coal. As a company, Google plans to be carbon-neutral by the end of this year.
Sentinel Investment acquires Citizens’ SRI Funds
Sentinel Investment, headquartered in Montpelier, VT, has come to an agreement with Citizens Advisers, located Portsmouth, NH, to acquire Citizens’ socially responsible mutual funds advisory business. Citizen’s eight funds will be folded into either new and existing Sentinel Funds including two new Funds launched by Sentinel: Sentinel Responsible Investing Core Opportunities Fund and Sentinel Responsible Investing Emerging Companies Fund. The acquisition is still pending Citizens Funds shareholder approval.
SEC Likely to Make Temporary Decision on Proxy Access
After receiving a huge number of comments against limiting shareholder proxy access, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will probably vote to temporarily stop proxy access. Many Democratic members of Congress, institutional investors and unions have spoken out against this move. SEC Chairperson Christopher Cox has hinted that the commission will return to the proxy access issue in Spring of 2008 when the commission’s seats are filled. Currently, it is short one Democratic member while another Democratic has given her resignation. Cox also plans to revisit the 5% threshold on stock ownership that allows a shareholder group to propose changes to director nomination bylaws.
Firsthand Alternative Energy Fund Lends a Hand
Firsthand Funds has recently announced the launch of it Alternative Energy Fund (ticker: ALTEX). The mutual fund will invest with alternative energy and clean tech companies including solar, wind, biomass, and energy efficiency. Firsthand is planning to donate a portion of its management fees to environmentally focused non-profits with shareholders directing the giving. Headquartered in the Silicon Valley, Firsthand’s founders have experience in the tech sector and bring this knowledge to investing in technology stocks and other clean sectors.
Winslow Launches Green Solutions Fund
Individual green investors have a new mutual fund from Winslow Green Mutual Funds with the launch of the Winslow Green Solutions Fund. The new fund will invest in global mid-sized growth companies whose revenues come from green products and services. Since 2003, institutional investors have invested in a similar Green Solutions fund. Winslow will continue to offers its Green Growth Fund, which focuses on small cap growth companies. Due to the growth in the green marketplace, the number of mid-sized green companies has expanded significantly, and this Fund reflects the increase in green investment opportunities.
PAX Acquires Women’s Equity Fund
Pax World Funds announced the acquisition of the assets of the FEMMX Financial Company, the advisor to the Women’s Equity Fund. The Women’s Equity Fund was the first fund to consider companies’ policies and practices in regards to women’s rights and equality. A report from Catalyst, a non-profit corporate research organization, notes that large companies with the highest number of female board members have significantly higher financial performance than companies with fewer females on the board. The fund will be renamed the Pax World Women’s Equity Fund.
Iran Compliance Product Offered by KLD
In response to the growing number of engagement and divestment mandates of companies that do business in Iran, KLD recently offered a new Iran Compliance Product. The Product meets all current US states requirements of divestment from Iran and will be updated monthly. As of the end of October, KLD has named 36 companies whose involvement in Iran meets KLD’s criteria, for example, companies with contracts with the government or with oil/mineral extraction accounting for more than 10% of their operations. KLD has not identified any US companies with involvement in Iran that met their criteria.
SRI Returns on Par with Mainstream Investments
Investors that include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment making decisions have similar returns with other investors finds the new report, "Demystifying Responsible Investment Performance.” Written by Mercer and The Asset Management Working Group of the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative, the report examines socially responsible investing (SRI) and financial performance. Looking across a wide array of academic writings, peer-reviewed and broker studies, the report found that including ESG factors didn’t lower returns. The report notes, however, more work needs to done to understand other factors that could influence SRI investment returns, including shareholder activism.
MicroPlace.com Launched to Help End Poverty
eBay recently launched MicroPlace.com, making it possible and simple for people to invest over the Internet in microfinance. Calvert Foundation, which helped develop MicroPlace, was named as the first issuer to sell investments on the site. The website is hoping that it will create a “self-sustaining marketplace” which allows capital to reach the working poor effectively. Calvert Foundation will be in charge of investing the capital generated from MicroPlace in global microfinance institutions. Online, investors are given options of different locations around the globe to allocate their investments.
RBC Makes its Largest Charitable Commitment Ever
RBC announced a 10-year $50 million grant program to support water-related programs, both in Canada and globally. The RBC Blue Water Project will help fund, in part, access to clean drinking water, water conservation, and watershed protection projects. The RBC Blue Water Project offers multi-year grants to global organizations working on water issues; annual grants to organizations working in North America; and community action grants focusing on organizations in Canada, the US, and the Caribbean. RBC also committed itself to reducing its own environmental footprint and revised its environmental policy to account for issues such as climate change, biodiversity and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Snaps up Proxy Advisor
Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) recently bought the proxy advisor Glass Lewis (GL) for $46 million. GL, the second largest proxy advisor after RiskMetrics, was sold by the scandal ridden Xinhua Finance. Last year OTPP looked into starting a proxy advising service, but now it will be able to help create a conflict-free proxy advisor company with its acquisition of GL. OTPP’s CEO Claude Lamoureux plans to focus especially on disclosure and product quality.
Huge Number of Shareholders Oppose SEC Proposals
A record-breaking number of shareholders have voiced their opposition to SEC’s proposals regarding limits on the rights of shareholders to file resolutions and to have active roles in nominating board members. The Social Investment Forum reports that the SEC staff said that approximately 22,500 investor comments were made during the commentary period. Only a small number of public comments were made supporting the proposals. A survey by nine large institutional investors mirrored the huge opposition to the SEC proposals. The survey found that less than a third of investors supported any of the five potential SEC proposals.
ISS Governance Publishes 2007 Postseason Report
ISS Governance, a unit of the RiskMetrics Group, released its annual wrap-up of this year’s proxy season. Shareholders showed strong support for proposals asking for greater board accountability, ISS Governance notes. This year also saw more companies and shareholders working together on issues of concern. ISS Governance reports that proponents withdrew over half of the shareholder proposals on majority voting, stock option reforms and sustainability reporting after dialogue with companies. Many social and environmental proposals were likewise withdrawn. Forty executive pay proposals were in front of shareholders and averaged 42% support. This compares to only seven proposals on executive pay in 2006.
New Guide for Colleges and Universities to Invest Responsibly
Amnesty International USA and the Responsible Endowments Coalition have created a handbook for colleges and universities to make their investments more socially and environmentally sound. The guide is available for free on-line at www.endowmentethics.org. Amnesty International reports that higher education endowments are over $340 billion and the impact of investing these monies responsibly for the environment and social programs would be huge. The handbook offers best practices and step-by-step directions for incorporating social, environmental and governance issues into investment decisions.
Wachovia Announces NEXT Awards Semifinalists
The Wachovia NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance in a partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation have released this year’s ten semifinalists. The semifinalists are ACCION Texas, San Antonio, TX; Boston Community Capital, Boston, MA; Clearinghouse CDFI, Lake Forest, CA; Community First Fund, Lancaster PA; Community Loan Fund, Concord, NH; Corporation for Supportive Housing, New York, NY; Housing Development Fund, Inc., Stamford, CT; IFF, Chicago, IL; Latino Community Credit Union, Durham, NC; and Southern Bancorp, Arkadelphia, AR. Two semifinalists will be chosen to receive capital and grants for a total of $8.75 million.
Hewlett-Packard Works to Reduce, Recycle and Reuse Old Technologies
Hewlett-Packard recently announced a new project to research how old computers and other electronic waste is being dumped and recycled in Africa. Health and environmental issues can arise from the improper disposal and harvesting of electric waste. This is especially problematic in Africa where old equipment is mined for its expensive elements such as gold and copper. The European Union has in place programs and legislation for companies to accept outdated electronics. Although Hewlett-Packard is experiencing growing sales in Africa, no African country has mandated technology recycling programs.
Walgreen Pulls Some Air Fresheners
An influential group of environmental organizations has filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, calling for stricter regulation of air fresheners. The group, which includes the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club, cites the health risks of some of the chemicals found in air fresheners. In response to the petition, Walgreen has removed three air fresheners from its 5,850 stores. The environmental groups would like manufacturers of air fresheners to conduct more safety tests and to list all ingredients in the air fresheners.
Concerned Investors ask S.E.C. to require Climate Change Disclosure
Ceres, the Environmental Defense, and several large institutional investors have filed a petition with the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) requiring companies to disclose the risks that climate change could pose to companies’ profits. More than half of S&P companies are not currently disclosing their climate risk Ceres said. In line with the environmental groups’ petition, New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently began an investigation into five energy companies to see if they are sufficiently disclosing the financial risks from ownership in coal-fired power plants, well-known producers of greenhouse gases.
Business Group Proposes Forestry and Carbon Policies
The Sustainable Forest Products Industry (SFPI) working group of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) advocates the creation of public policies to regulate and protect the forestry sector’s carbon cycle. In a new publication, the group presents key messages for policy makers, including the support of policies that advance accelerated depreciation rates, the effective use of biomass through the value chain and the promotion of biomass energy. The SFPI also supports the attempt to have more of the world’s forests under sustainable management. The group points to the unique opportunities and challenges found in the forestry sector.
Proxy Advisor Company in Flux
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis is back on the market as its owner of nine months, Xinhua Finance, has decided to sell, reports Global Proxy Watch. One of the most interested buyers for Glass Lewis is RiskMetrics, who currently already owns rival proxy advising firm, Institutional Shareholder Services. Xinhua Finance is selling Glass Lewis at a huge loss after a governance scandal rocked Xinhua. Questions about RiskMetrics ownership of both proxy advisory firms abound. Global Proxy Watch states that if the purchase was to go through, RiskMetric would own more than 80% of the proxy advisory market. This virtual monopoly could start a regulatory investigation.
College Students: Vocal, Voting, and Socially Aware
Get ready for a new generation of informed voters and consumers. A new study of college students aged 18-30 reports 94% of students are planning to vote in 2008. Alloy Media + Marketing’s 2007 Alloy College Explorer also reports that students are actively helping drive corporate responsibility, and, as consumers, are conscious of choosing brands and companies they consider socially responsible. Fair labor practices and the environment are students’ leading factors in determining if a company is socially responsibility. Students named Ben & Jerry’s, Yoplait and Burt’s Bees as the top socially responsible brands.
Investor Groups Organize to Oppose SEC Proposals
Www.SaveShareholderRights.org is a new web-based effort launched by the Social Investment Forum (SIF) and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to oppose proposals by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would weaken the rights of shareholders to present resolutions at shareholder meetings. The SEC proposals will also make it more difficult for investors to nominate directors. The web site will allow institutions and financial professionals to sign a joint statement opposing the proposals and offer a space for individual investors to file comments, with copies going to both the SEC and members of Congress.
New Collaboration between the Center for Political Accountability and The Wharton School
The Center for Political Accountability (CPA) and the Wharton School's Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research recently announced a new collaboration focusing on corporate political accountability and corporate governance. The new partnership will study how directors execute their oversight responsibilities and examine political accountability and disclosure frameworks at both the country (US and foreign) and corporate levels. A survey of the codes of conduct of S&P 500 companies and how they regulate political spending is also being designed. In late February 2008, CPA and the Zicklin Center will co-sponsor a conference on corporate governance and corporate political accountability.
Climate Change Engagement High During 2007 Proxy Season
Ceres recently reported that this year saw the highest ever support for shareholder resolutions concerning climate change with an average voting support of 21.6%. Forty-three climate-focused resolutions were filed, 15 of which went onto votes. Shareholders withdrew 15 proposals after reaching agreements and starting dialogues with companies. Allegheny Energy received a record breaking 39.5% support on a global warming resolution. This year is also the first time shareholders voted on requests for companies to establish greenhouse gas reduction targets. Thirty-one percent of voters at ExxonMobil supported greenhouse gas reductions targets.
KLD Makes Public its Catholic Values 400 Index
After calculating the Catholic Values 400 Index (CV400) internally for almost ten years, KLD recently announced the launch of the Index. Developed as a custom index in 1998, the CV400 is based on KLD’s DSI 400 and the socially responsible investment guidelines developed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2003. These guidelines incorporate a screen for fetal tissue and embryonic stem cell research, manufacture of contraceptive products, and support of abortion. KLD has also started an advisory committee to the CV400 that will meet regularly to review changes to the Index in light of emerging Catholic values.
Coca-Cola Remains Off KLD Index
KLD Research and Analytics continues to exclude Coca-Cola Company and two of its largest bottlers, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, from its index of socially responsible companies, KLD’s Broad Market Social Index (BMSI). One ramification of not being on the KLD index is that TIAA-CREF’s CREF Social Choice Account will not allow investments in the three companies. TIAA-CREF is the largest SRI fund and last year sold 1.25 million shares of its Coca-Cola stock with plans to sell more of its Coca-cola holdings. Meanwhile, many colleges and universities, including the recent additions of Smith College and Rutgers University, have kicked Coke off campus to protest the company’s labor and human right abuses.
Indian Court Rules Against Novartis
An Indian Court has ruled against Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis’ attempt to challenge an Indian law that allows the country to refuse a patent for an existing medicine. Oxfam and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility call it an important victory for global public health. This ruling supports the right of developing countries to use the World Trade Organization’s guidelines to balance public health and protection of intellectual property. Novartis had received numerous petitions to pull the case and had been questioned by many political groups from India, Europe and the United States. Currently, more than two-thirds of the generic drugs manufactured in India go to developing countries.
KLD Launches New Sudan Targeted Divestment & Compliance Product
The launch of KLD's Sudan Targeted Divestment & Compliance Product will help pension funds divest from companies with ties to Sudan in response to the growing number of divestment mandates. KLD's new product meets the requirements of divestment of the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF). The product uses a targeted approach that focuses on divestment from high impact companies like military, oil, and mining companies. Currently more than 20 states and other organizations are using SDTF's criteria for targeted divestment related to Sudan.
Progressive Asset Management Announces Possible Merger
Earlier this month, Progressive Asset Management (PAM) announced it has started discussions with Financial West Group (FWG) concerning a possible merger between the companies. FWG owns a 40% interest in PAM, a publicly traded broker, and is the office inside FWG that specializes in SRI. PAM has 65 financial professionals who are also registered with FWG. FWG has 350 registered representatives and is a privately held broker/dealer firm whose representatives have more than $4 billion under management.
Shared Interest Sees Great Growth in South Africa Last Year
Shared Interest guarantees bank loans to low-income communities in South African and works with partner organization Thembani to help build human capital as well. The non-profit, with headquartered in New York City, is a social investment fund that raises money by donation and investments. Their 2006 annual report, released this month, states that they have doubled the number of low-income people benefiting from their guarantees from 450,000 in their first ten years to 975,000 by the end of 2006. Shared Interest had almost $11 million in assets at the end of 2006.
Co-op America’s Campaign Prevents Dominion Power from Building Coal-fired Plants
The Climate Change Program, run by the non-profit Co-op America, credited its consumer awareness campaign with influencing Dominion Power Company’s decision to halt the building of three of four new coal-fired power plants. However, Co-op America indicated that the public needs to continue addressing clean energy issues with Dominion, as it still plans to build a coal-fired power plant and a nuclear power plant in Virginia. At the most recent annual meeting, Dominion shareholders also asked the company to address climate change issues.
First ETF based on Sudan Divestment Launched by Claymore
Claymore Securities, headquartered in Lisle, IL, has launched the Claymore/KLD Sudan Free Large-Cap Core ETF (ticker: KSF). It is the first ETF to use the divestment from Sudan as its organizing factor. It tracks the KLD Large Cap Sudan Free Social Index, the first index linked to Sudan divestment. The Index screens, in part, against businesses that own property or assets in Sudan, obtain goods or services from Sudan or issue loans to companies in Sudan. The ETF will invest at least 90% of its total assets in common stock and ADRs from the KLD Index. KLD also offers Sudan Compliance Service which helps institutional investors implement divestment from the Sudan.
Eurosif Reports on ESG challenges in the European Food Production and Insurance Sectors
The European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif) recently published two reports on the environmental, social, and governance issues that the food production and insurance sectors face in Europe. Eurosif’s goal with these reports is to outline risks that are not usually part of traditional financial analysis, which could affect companies’ assets. The reports are the fourth and fifth in a series following Eurosif’s reports on the hotel and tourism, chemical, and automobile sectors. Eurosif researched the food production report in-house and partnered with Bank Sarasin researching the insurance sector.
French SRI Sees Huge One-Year Growth
An annual survey of the French SRI market by Novethic reports that by the end of 2006 French SRI assets had risen 88% from 2005. 16.6 billion euros are held in the French SRI market with 63% of these assets belonging to institutional investors. Mutual funds still hold the majority of the SRI assets; however, the survey showed that dedicated management for institutional investors is rapidly growing with 5.6 billion euros in assets under dedicated management, a 178% increase from 2005. In 2006, employees of large corporations had more access to investing assets following SRI principles and took advantage of the opportunity with a 118% increase.
Greater Accountability for the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Plenary
In a meeting hosted by the US Department of State, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Plenary agreed to formal participation criteria. The Voluntary Principles are a broad stakeholder initiative that works to guide companies' safety and security as it acts to protect human rights. The new performance-based criteria include a dispute resolution process and more transparent methods for including new members. Last year it was decided that companies and NGOs could join the Plenary even if their home governments did not participant. Both this year's and last year's new criteria should lead to an increased membership.
JPMorgan Offers Climate Change Research Freely
Climate change research from JPMorgan is now available at www.jpmorgan.com/climatechange. The research studies the economic, legislative, and business developments of current and projected carbon controls. JPMorgan states that they are releasing their research publicly as an example of their commitment to the environment. They also have worked to reduce their carbon emissions and are the lead sponsor for C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York City. JPMorgan’s investment portfolio in renewable energy is $1 billion.
The Business Case For Asking Communities for Consent
A new report from the World Resources Institute (WRI) finds that companies and financial institutions that work with local communities for their consent have an advantage over those businesses that do not gain approval. Entitled “Development Without Conflict: The Business Case for Community Consent,” the report provides methods for creating and implementing community consent practices into development and investment strategies. The report details four case studies of best practices in Argentina, Peru, the Philippines, and Thailand. The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) has endorsed the report.
Human Rights Watch Reports on Wal-Mart’s Unfair Labor Practices
Human Rights Watch recently released its newest report, "Discounting Rights: Wal-Mart’s Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association." The report details Wal-Mart’s tactics toward associates who try to form unions. By interviewing past and current workers at Wal-Mart and studying cases filed against Wal-Mart at the National Labor Relations Board, the report shows the company challenging their associates’ right to free association. Some of the report’s suggestions for Wal-Mart include stopping all tactics that undermine freedom of association and pledging neutrality on union formation.
A Sweeter Greener Apple
As a result of a shareholder resolution from the As You Sow Foundation, Apple recently announced it is setting new goals for recycling old computers. Apple is the third major computer maker, after Dell and Hewlett Packard, to create take back programs for computers after working with As You Sow and other shareholders. Apple is developing a system to track and measure returned computers based on past sales. In 2006, Apple took back approximately 9.5% of the computers it sold 7 years ago. By 2010, Apple’s goal is to reclaim 28% of sold computers.
The Principles for Responsible Investment Celebrates Happy First Birthday
On its first anniversary, the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) announced last that week over 180 institutional investors from around the world—with over $8 trillion in assets under management—have signed on to its principles. Organized by the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative and the UN Global Compact, the PRI is a framework to help investors analyze ESG issues in the investment process. The PRI Engagement Clearinghouse is the first global forum for sharing information and resources for action on ESG issues.
First Unit Investment Trust Focusing on Climate Solutions Chain
KLD Research & Analytics and Fixed Income Securities (FIS) have partnered to create a unit investment trust (UIT) based on the KLD Global Climate 100 Index (GC100). The GC100 Index is the first global index that focuses on the climate solutions value chain. The UIT is called the KLD Global Climate 100 Index Portfolio, Series 1 and is the first investment product for US investors to be based on the GC100 Index. The GC100 Index was launch July 2005 to address the risks and opportunities of global warming and, as of March 31, 2007, has had a 42.4% cumulative total return.
Pax World Announces Julie Gorte as Senior Vice President
Pax World Management Corporation named Dr. Julie Gorte to fill its newly created Senior Vice President, Sustainable Investing, position. Previously, Gorte worked at Calvert Group as Vice President and Chief Social Investment Strategist. For many years, Gorte has endorsed the integration of ESG factors into financial decisions. She has also held nonprofit and public policy positions including almost 14 years at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. Headquartered in Portsmouth, NH, Pax World started the first socially responsible mutual fund in 1971. Today it works to identify and invest with companies that embrace sustainable business models.
Parnassus Adds Portfolio Manager to their Fixed-Income Fund
San Francisco-based Parnassus Investments recently appointed Ben Allen as the co-portfolio manager for the Parnassus Fixed-Income Fund. He will be working with Todd Ahlsten who is the lead portfolio manager for the Fund. Allen has been with Parnassus since 2004, first as intern and then full time as a senior research analyst and portfolio manager in 2005. The goal of the Fixed-Income Fund is a high level of current income with the safety of capital. As of the end of March, the Fund had $66.9 million in net assets.
Laura Berry New Director for ICCR
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) recently announced the appointment of Laura Berry as its new Executive Director. Berry is coming from four years as Senior Vice President for Philanthropic Service for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. During her time at the Community Foundation, its revenues tripled. The ICCR is an international coalition of 275 faith-based institutional investors with combined portfolios worth an estimated $100 billion. The organization works to include social values in investment decisions and is one of the world’s principal shareholder advocacy organizations.
Insurance Companies to Disclose Risks Related to Climate Change
Bethesda, MD-based Calvert Funds Group reports that the insurance companies Prudential Financial and Hartford Financial Services Group have agreed to emend their disclosure of their financial risks from climate change. The companies’ disclosures will also include their strategies for mitigating climate change risks. Calvert has withdrawn its shareholder proposals regarding climate change at both companies. Prudential Financial, based in Newark NJ, and Hartford Financial, headquartered in Hartford CT, have both stated the importance of addressing the uncertainty caused by climate change.
PAM’s Portfolio Suite has Sweet First Year
Progressive Asset Management (PAM) reported that its new Progressive Track Investments (PTI) had an outstanding first year, which ended March 31. The nation’s first comprehensive portfolio suite, PTI is composed of seven benchmark tracking portfolios across seven asset classes: large-cap growth, large-cap value, mid-cap growth, mid-cap value, small-cap growth, small-cap value and international. Each portfolio is also screened on social and environmental issues. PAM states that the PTI’s performance sends a powerful message to investors who want to invest responsibly but also want to use well-known benchmarks and diversify across major asset classes. Based in Oakland, CA, PAM was the first US full-service investment broker to specialize in SRI.
Executive Compensation Bill Heads to House for Vote
After passing out of the House Financial Services committee on March 28, HR 1257 faces a full vote in front of the House of Representatives. The bill gives shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation. Furthermore, it includes the right for shareholders to have another non-binding advisory vote if the company awards a "golden parachute"—exit packages of cash, stock or retirement benefits—as it is also negotiating the purchase or sale of the company. More than fifty companies face shareholder resolutions regarding this issue this proxy voting season. The Social Investment Forum supports this bill and urges concerned investors to contact their Representative. The US Chamber of Commerce opposes the bill.
UBS Offers New Socially Responsible Unit Investment Trust
International financial firm UBS announced the launch of a new unit investment trust (UIT), the KLD Dividend Achievers Social Investing Series 2007A as part of the UBS Equity Opportunity Trust. Created for US investors who are interested in socially responsible investing, the UIT will have a life span of approximately 15 months. All portfolio stocks are screened for their ESG records and must show at least 10 years of consecutive dividend growth. UBS formed this new UIT in partnership with KLD Research & Analytics, Inc., a leader in corporate social and environmental research, and Mergent, Inc, a leading supplier of financial and business data on internationally publicly traded companies.
SIO Survey Highlights Growth in Canadian SRI Assets
A survey from the Social Investment Organization (SIO) reports growing institutional interest in Canadian socially responsible investing, with an increase in SRI assets to more than $500 billion in 2006. Only two years before, SRI assets were almost an eighth the size, at $65 billion. SIO links this huge growth in SRI assets to including $446 billion in assets that have ESG proxy voting guidelines attached to them, which were not counted in previous SIO surveys. The SIO also credits the increase to the adoption of SRI policies and practices by a number of public pension funds over the last couple of years. This biannual survey was sponsored by Acuity Funds Ltd., Alterna Savings, Desjardins Trust, Meritas Mutual Funds and The Ethical Funds Company.
Parnassus Puts MicroVest On its Portfolio
Maryland-based MicroVest recently announced that The Parnassus Equity Income Funds has invested in MicroVest I, LP with a two-year, $500,000 note subscription. MicroVest is a private equity fund that works to provide debt and equity capital to microfinance institutions in emerging markets. Housed in San Francisco, Parnassus Investments invests in SRI companies and has $1.3 billion in assets under management. MicroVest reports that in the past mutual funds have not looked to invest in the microfinance industry. However, Parnassus' new subscription dovetails with the Equity Income Fund's objective of a 2% allocation to community investments.
OXFAM Calls on Starbucks to Resolve Trademark Issues With Ethiopian Coffee Farmers
OXFAM has issued a reminder to Starbucks shareholders that the company has not signed a royalty-free licensing agreement giving Ethiopia ownership of its coffee trademarks. Ethiopia is working to build the value of its coffee brands, such as Sidamo, Harar, and Yirgacheffe, because coffee is one of the nation’s most valuable commodities. The Ethiopian government argues that trademark ownership would give farmers a larger share of the profits from their coffee sales. Starbucks jointly announced with the Ethiopian government in February that the company would not stand in the way of the country getting the trademarks. However, since then Starbucks has neither signed a voluntary licensing agreement nor engaged in good-faith discussions with Ethiopia according to OXFAM.
CalPERS Responses to HP Proxy Vote
The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) advocated for a proposal at Hewlett-Packard (HP) that would have allowed large shareholders to nominate candidates to the board of directors. The proposal was created after the spying scandal involving HP’s board. In proxy voting, the proposal was voted down with 52% against it and 39% of the total shares in favor. Supporters argued that the measure would work toward board accountability. CalPERS issued a statement commending shareholders who "took a stand in favor of democracy." CalPERS believes that shareholders have a basic right to nominate directors in extreme situations like at HP.
Verite wins Skoll Award
Verite, a non-profit social auditing and research organization, has been awarded one of ten Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship in 2007. The award, which comes with a three-year $1 million grant, recognizes Verite’s work to improve global working conditions and corporate social responsibility. Verite will use the grant in part to support its newly launched RAISE Institute. The Skoll Award is bestowed by the Skoll Foundation, started by eBAY founder Jeff Skoll. It invests in organizations that work on creative solutions to complex social problems.
Companies Moving Off and On FTSE4Good Global Index
Twenty-five companies have met FTSE Group’s corporate responsibility standards and will be added to the FTSE4Good Global Index series. Seventeen companies will be taken off of the Index, as they no longer meet FTSE’s criteria. More than 450 companies have been added to the Index since it started in 2001, while 160 companies have been removed. Criteria for acceptance in the Index include environmental sustainability, shareholder relations, and respect of human rights. FTSE reports that over 310 companies have changed their company policies and practices in response to its criteria to remain part of the FTSE4Good Global Indexes.
NorthStar Calls for Divestment from ExxonMobil
Boston-based SRI investment firm, NorthStar Asset Management has called on other firms and individuals to divest from ExxonMobil. NorthStar pointed to the rising cost of oil production and global warming as undermining shareholder value. NorthStar believes that there is nowhere for ExxonMobil stock to go but down. NorthStar’s call to action comes after five years of trying to work with the oil company on other issues including board diversity and equal employment through the resolution process.
Europe's F&C to offer Ethical Investing in US
For the first time, London-based F&C Management Limited is offering US institutional investors and high-net worth individuals a sustainable international equity strategy. F&C is well known as Europe's largest SRI fund manager with $5.4 billion in ethically screened assets. Benchmarked by the MSCI EAFE, F&C's strategy will only offer non-US companies. F&C will use positive and negative screening to find European, Asian, Japanese and emerging market businesses that demonstrate high ethical standards.
Albright Capital and PPGM Working in Emerging Markets
Albright Capital Management and PGGM have come together to create a long term, multi-asset class emerging markets fund. PGGM, a Dutch pension fund that serves the healthcare and social work sectors, will serve as Albright Capital's strategic investor with $329 million. Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright sits as Chair of Albright Capital, a registered investment advisor. Albright Capital is part of The Albright Group, a global strategy firm. The goal of the portfolio is to achieve absolute returns with a low correlation to PGGM's other investments.
Two Natural Foods Grocers Propose Merger
Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey startled investors last week with a proposed merger with Wild Oats Markets. Wild Oats would be the largest acquisition for Whole Foods to date, following its mergers with Fresh Fields and Bread & Circus. Whole foods would offer $18.50 a share for Wild Oats, a 23% premium over last month’s average share. It would also take over $106 million in debt. The acquisition would include Whole Food’s 110 stores in 24 states and British Columbia with annual sales of $1.2 billion.
New European Study on Venture Capital for Sustainability
The European Social Investment Forum (Eurosif) recently published a study focusing on Venture Capital for Sustainability (VC4S). With this type of venture capital, profits are married to a mission of sustainability. VC4S accounts for 6% of the European venture capital market including funds that focus on renewable energy and funds that work to create social equality. This survey of European venture capitalists reports that as of 2006, €1.25 billion has been raised. One interesting finding is that VC4S’s growth can be credited to high-net worth individuals and family foundations instead of institutional investors.
Canada Backs Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
In a move to support governmental accountability, Canada announced its endorsement of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). An international coalition of governments, industries, NGOs, and investors, EITI helps resource-rich countries with improved governance by publishing companies' payments and government revenues for the oil, gas and mining industries. In addition to an annual pledge of $CAN100,000, Canada made a contribution of $CAN750,000 to the EITI Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Working with top Canadian mining companies, Canada has also promised technical support.
CRO Magazine lists 2007's "100 Best Corporate Citizens"
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters tops CRO Magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" for the second year in a row. Published for the organization of corporate responsibility officers, CRO Magazine released its eighth annual survey of companies that practice corporate responsibility. The list has become an indicator of best practices of corporate responsibility. Using the research of KLD Research & Analytics, the survey looks at more than 1,100 of the largest US publicly traded companies, examining companies' environmental, social and governance practices. Advanced Micro Devices, Nike, Motorola, Intel, International Business Machines, Agilent Technologies, The Timberland Company, Starbucks Coffee Company and General Mills are also found in CRO's top ten.
Two Connecticut-based Companies add Gender Identity to Nondiscrimination Policies
In response to shareholder proposals, Hubbell Incorporated and FuelCell Energy have agreed to add gender expression to their equal employment opportunity policies. Northstar Asset Management, which filed both proposals, withdrew them when the companies agreed to change their policies. Hubbell Incorporated, an electrical equipment manufacturer, already prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation as does FuelCell, a developer and marketer of clean fuel cell power plants. Since 2006, Northstar has been asking for both sexual orientation and gender expression to be included in nondiscrimination policies.
London-Based FTSE Group Outlines new Climate Standards for its FTSE4Good Index Series
The FTSE4Good was created by FTSE to help investors identify socially responsible companies and as a best practice framework for those companies. In early February 2007, FTSE added new criteria to help balance climate change to its FTSE4Good Index. FTSE divides companies into three sectors based on environmental footprint, and anticipates compliance with the standards over the next two years. The framework includes companies implementing climate change strategies, disclosure and performance. Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS), a FTSE research and review partner, embraced the new climate change criteria.
Portfolio 21 Names its 2006 Top Ten Green Companies
Portfolio 21, a global mutual fund from Portland, OR, released its top ten money-making companies that use environmentally conscious business strategies. Portfolio 21, created in 1999 and managed by Progress Investment Management, invests in companies that provide services and products that help create a sustainable society. The fund believes investors can make big returns when companies follow business models that understand environmental constraints and risks. Portfolio 21 reported that their top ten companies posted returns in 2006 from 41% to 131%. Vestas Wind Systems, Fuel Systems Solutions, JM, Interface, British Land, Acciona, Ormat, Canon, Hewlett-Packard, and Novozymes were the companies named by Portfolio 21.
Two Mutual Funds Guided by the Teachings of the Catholic Church to Merge
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc, announced the proposed merger of the Catholic Equity Fund into the Ave Maria Rising Dividend Fund (AVEDX). Catholic Equity Fund shareholders still need to approve the merger although the boards of both funds have already endorsed the move. At the end of 2006, Ave Maria Mutual Funds’ net assets totaled over $435 million. The mutual fund invests in companies that support the teachings of the Catholic Church. Schwartz Investment Counsel is the advisor to Ave Maria Mutual Funds and Catholic Financial Services Corporation, which is a subsidiary of the Catholic Knights of Milwaukee, WI.
Tesco CEO Pledges To Stimulate Green Consumption
On January 18 2007, Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, spoke in London about the long reaching effects of climate change. Addressing Forum for the Future and Tesco Stakeholders, Leahy promised that Tesco would help create a low-carbon economy. Pointing out the huge growth in sales of organic foods, Leahy said that consumers and companies could work together towards sustainability. Making clear information available to consumers on the carbon cost of products is one of Tesco’s goals. He announced that Tesco would track carbon use by developing a Sustainable Consumption Institute with input from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University.
SEC Responses to HP No-action Request
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a January 22, 2007, letter to Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) legal team, left open HP’s no-action request on its current protocol for nominating members to its board of directors. In late 2006, a collection of shareholder groups proposed a change in HP’s bylaws that would require HP to release the name of any person nominated for election to its board. However, HP intends to exclude this proposal from its proxy materials. The SEC currently is unable to agree or disagree with HP’s legal interpretation of rule 14a-8(I)(8) and could express no view at this time.
New Sudan-Free ETF to be Launched
Claymore Securities, Inc will soon have a new Index Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) screened by KLD. The new KLD-Certified Sudan Free Large-Cap Social ETF will employ a screen to filter out all companies that do business in the Sudan. A traditional socially responsible investing screen will also be applied. This is one of fourteen new ETFs Claymore filed with the SEC in early January for the right to launch. Claymore is expecting the fund to be open to investors by the end of the first quarter.
Faith-Based Investors Call For Generic Cancer-Fighting Drugs
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) recently released a letter to Novartis CEO Dr. Daniel Vasella asking Novartis to withdraw its legal challenge to Section 3(d) of the Indian Patent Act in regard to the cancer drug Gleevac/Glivec. ICCR credits Novartis’ work in neglected disease research, policy development and stakeholder engagement. However, ICCR points out that public perceptions could turn against Novartis if the company continues its case like it did when Novartis and other drug companies challenged South Africa’s right to generic AIDS drugs.
TIAA-CREF and ShoreBank Working Together
January 10, 2007, TIAA-CREF revealed it would place multiple Certificates of Deposit worth $22 million with ShoreBank and ShoreBank Pacific, subsidiaries of ShoreBank Corporation. TIAA-CREF is one of the largest providers of retirement saving products with focuses in academic, medical, and cultural fields. This move represents TIAA-CREF’s largest deposit with ShoreBank and is an example of their commitment to community investing. ShoreBank is the US’s largest community development bank and provides financing and information to individuals, nonprofits, foundations and small businesses to help them create affordable housing and community development programs.
EPA’s New TRI Ruling Angers Green Investors
Many environmental organizations oppose the recent December 18, 2006, EPA ruling that reduced toxic reporting requirements for companies that emit toxic chemicals. The Social Investment Forum Foundation (SIF) has joined with many concerned citizen and environmental groups to confront the EPA’s weakening of Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). The TRI was created in response to the 1984 Bhopal catastrophe and this new ruling is the first time in 18 years that the EPA has limited the public’s right to know about pollutants. SIF has expressed concern that green investors will have less information without the full TRI disclosure on which to base investment decisions. The SIF calls on the EPA and elected officials to restore the EPA’s previous polices.
The first mutual fund investment in MicroVest
came from the Canadian Meritas Jantzi Social Index Fund to the tune of $300,000. Meritas is committed to investing up to 2 percent of its mutual fund assets into community development investments such as supporting microfinance through Bethesda, Maryland-based MicroVest, a $25 million private equity fund founded by three nonprofits: CARE, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), and the Seed Capital Development Fund (SCDF).
A roadmap of best practices on compensation consultant independence
can be drawn from responses by 18 companies to an October 2006 letter sent to compensation committee chairs at the 25 largest US companies in the S&P 500 from institutional investors representing $849.5 billion. The ten companies cited by the investors as appearing to have "best practice" policies include some companies currently being criticized for excessive compensation, including Goldman Sachs (GS) and Home Depot (HD). The six nonresponding companies so far include Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Merck (MRK), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Texas Instruments (TXN), and Verizon (VZ)--Wal-Mart (WMT) has communicated to the investors with a promise to respond.
The first major insurer to go carbon neutral is UK-based Aviva
(AV.L). Since 2002, Aviva has cut building and travel-related carbon dioxide emissions by 54 percent, and currently 64 percent of electricity used the company globally is obtained from zero emission sources. Aviva will offset the remaining emissions by purchasing carbon credits that support tree planting and carbon-free power sources such as solar and wind.
Transparency on compensation consultant work took a step forward when General Electric
(ticker: GE) disclosed information beyond that mandated by new SEC requirements. In response to an October letter signed by large institutional investors and pension funds. GE revealed that its CEO, Jeff Immelt, was not involved in the selection of compensation consultant Frederic W. Cook & Co., which does no other work for a client beyond compensation consulting without the consent of the compensation committee chair. Pfizer (PFE) has also submitted a filing with the SEC noting that it uses Cook as its compensation consultant for CEO and other executive compensation, but not for any other services. For more on the letter sent to GE and 24 other top S&P 500 companies, read the related SocialFunds article.
Political donations disclosure concessions
have been made by Verizon (ticker: VZ), Monsanto (MON), and General Dynamics (GD) in response to shareowner resolutions and activism coordinated by the Center for Political Accountability (CPA). The three companies join 12 others that adopted disclosure practices in the 2005/2006 proxy season by posting a complete list of corporate political contributions on their websites and disclosing guidelines for their political giving. Monsanto and General Dynamics also agreed to establish board oversight of their political spending. Verizon reports that their board already receives reports on these contributions annually, and will continue to do so. General Dynamics has also agreed to report and have board oversight of its payments to trade associations that are used for political purposes, representing a significant expansion of political donations disclosure.
The Ecuadorian Attorney General issued a formal request that the US Justice Department investigate Chevron
(ticker: CVX) on allegations of fraud made by the Amazon Defense Coalition in report entitled Rainforest Catastrophe: Chevron's Fraud and Deceit In Ecuador. The report is related to a lawsuit currently in Ecuadorian courts over environmental damages caused by Chevron subsidiary Texaco during three decades of operation in the Amazon rainforest. For more on this suit, read the related SocialFunds article.
The Sixth Annual Australian Sustainability Awards
were announced by Ethical Investor. The Ethical Fund of the Year Award this year went to BT Ethical Share Fund. Insurance Australia Group was named the Sustainable Company of the Year, Blackmores the Sustainable Small Company of the Year. A Special Award for Environment went to CO2 Group; Special Award for Social/Community to Suncorp-Metway; Special Award for Corporate Governance to Wesfarmers; and Special AWard for Labor Relations to ANZ Banking Group.
Proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis is being acquired by Xinhua Finance.
Shanghai-based Xinhua purchased an initial 19.9 percent of San Francisco-based Glass Lewis in August 2006 and the purchase of the remaining 80.1 percent is expected to close in early 2007. "XF is not well known, but critics are already questioning whether a company assumed to have close ties to Beijing should influence sensitive corporate voting outcomes around the world," stated the December 15, 2006 edition of Global ProxyWatch from Davis Global Advisors. The newsletter also noted that GL may no longer be perceived as free from conflicts of interest: "Parent XF owns investor relations firm Taylor Rafferty, whose clients are mostly corporates."
A new Working Group on Responsible Property Investment
--or the Property Working Group (PWG) has been launched by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).
A December 13 vote on whether shareowners should have access to the proxy to nominate directors has been postponed for the second time by the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). Until it proposes new rules, the SEC has said that the decision by the Federal Appeals Court to allow shareowners to file resolutions to nominate directors will stand.
Two new members have joined the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights
(BLIHR)--General Electric (ticker: GE) and Ericsson (ERICY). BLIHR seeks to find "practical ways of applying the aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights within a business context and to inspire other businesses to do likewise."
In support of a shareowner resolution on warrantless government surveillance of phone records at AT&T
(ticker: ATT) and Verizon (VZ), Working Assets posted an Action Alert urging people to write the CEOs of AT&T and Verizon asking the companies to adopt the proposals. The As You Sow Foundation filed the resolution, along with co-filer Calvert and the Adrian Dominican Sisters.
A new survey finds that many UK pension schemes are not disclosing their socially responsible investing policies and practices,
according to FairPensions, a coalition launched in 2005 including Amnesty, Oxfam, and WWF. The survey finds that only five of the UK’s 20 largest pension schemes disclose policies on social and environmental responsibility and only of 20 discloses proxy votes.
The US Supreme Court will start hearing oral arguments in the Massachusetts v. EPA
case to decide whether the Clean Air Act authorizes the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the pollution that causes global warming. This decision will also have a direct bearing on the eleven states across the country that have adopted global warming tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks. Under the Clean Air Act, states may decide to adopt the California tailpipe emissions standards in lieu of the federal standards. California has adopted regulations that would reduce fleet-wide global warming emissions from new vehicles by 25 percent in model year 2009, rising to a 30 percent reduction in model year 2016.
A survey on 54 sustainability professionals
on their company efforts connecting corporate social responsibility to overall business strategies has been released by the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR). The findings, available in an executive summary, short slide show, and complete slide show, reveal that CSR has a high profile inside their companies, with 72% of respondents stating that their CEO publicly communicates their company’s commitment to CSR.
Three Canadian SRI mutual fund CEOs recommend amending the Clean Air Act to address climate change.
In an open letter to party leaders in the House of Commons, the CEOs Ethical Funds, Inhance Investment Management and Meritas Mutual Funds as well as the executive director of the Social Investment Organization (SIO) urge lawmakers to establish strict targets for emission reductions and establish a cap-and-trade system of carbon trading in Canada, among other recommendations.
Reaching its 2009 goal on recycled content use in its marketing publications, Dell
(ticker: DELL) announced it now uses an average of 50 percent recycled paper content--and even up to 90 percent in many publications. Dell estimates the increased recycled content paper is avoiding the use of nearly 35,000 tons of virgin fiber paper per year--the equivalent of saving more than 250,000 trees or more than the number of trees required to print three Sunday editions of the New York Times. Dell also currently sources between 15 and 20 percent of paper from Forest Stewardship Council-certified sources exceeding an interim goal to source 10 percent of paper requirements with FSC certification by 2006 and nearing its 2009 goal of 25 percent. Dell committed to these goals in October 2004 in its Forest Products Stewardship Model.
To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its operating facilities globally, HP
(ticker: HPQ) has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund-US (WWF-US) to identify the best technology and practices to reduce energy use 15 percent below 2006 levels by 2010. HP will also continue to investigate and purchase cost-effective renewable energy. HP is also committing to a series of other initiatives, including reporting and verifying carbon dioxide emissions from its facilities based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the World Economic Forum's Global Greenhouse Gas Register, develop energy efficiency measurements for its product categories.
Calvert Foundation Wins Wachovia Corporation Excellence Award
CALVERT FOUNDATION WINS WACHOVIA CORPORATION EXCELLENCE AWARD PRESENTED BY THE OPPORTUNITY FINANCE NETWORK Bethesda-based Organization Recognized for “Innovation,” Work to Strengthen Economically Disadvantaged Communities ¬¬BETHESDA, MD.///November 8, 2006///The Calvert Social Investment Foundation is one of just four groups to be honored nationwide with the Seventh Annual Wachovia Excellence Awards for Opportunity Finance presented by the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN). The Calvert Foundation was singled out for praise as a national leader for “Innovation.” Honored for their outstanding efforts to provide jobs, affordable housing and vitally needed community facilities in “communities of opportunity” across America, the 2006 recipients of the awards were chosen for excellence in four categories: Calvert Foundation, Bethesda, Md. (Innovation); Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, Jackson, Miss. (Advocacy); Lenders for Community Development, San Jose, Calif. (Community Impact); and Illinois Facilities Fund, Chicago, Ill. (Financing). Calvert Foundation won the Wachovia Excellence Award for Innovation for making their Calvert Community Investment Notes available through conventional commercial brokerage channels, putting in place sales agreements with 400 top brokerage houses. The Calvert Foundation has also created a new initiative to lend to Social Enterprises via an online application process. The online submission of loan requests allows Calvert Foundation to efficiently assess and manage its pipeline. The Foundation “private labels” its notes and helps others to offer similar community investment products which allows for broader distribution to wider groups and has led to additional $32 million to be channeled to low income communities. “Calvert Foundation demonstrates that the opportunity finance industry is on the brink of real, transformational change,” said Opportunity Finance Network President & CEO Mark Pinsky. “We congratulate them for contributing so much to their communities and to the future of our industry.” “As Calvert Foundation proves every single day, opportunity finance institutions play a crucial role in strengthening our communities,” said Wachovia Director of Community Relations Mike Rizer. “We’re proud to sponsor this event, which honors organizations that work so tirelessly to revitalize lower-income communities.” Calvert Foundation Executive Director Shari Berenbach said: “We are delighted to be recognized for our work. Innovation is at the core of our ability to reach out and impact more and more communities in a direct and powerful way through investment. We are thrilled to be recognized as national leader in “Innovation”. Each Wachovia Excellence Award for Opportunity Finance Presented by Opportunity Finance Network comes with a $1,000 prize. Community development financial institutions invest in individuals, small businesses, quality affordable housing and vital community services that benefit economically disadvantaged people and communities. They are financial intermediaries that have community economic development as their core mission and make up a key emerging financial industry area addressing some of the most pressing community needs. ABOUT CALVERT FOUNDATION In addition to Calvert Community Investment Notes, the Calvert Foundation (http://www.calvertfoundation.org) makes available a wide range of other innovative financial instruments and services, including the Community Investment Profile Database, the Calvert Giving Fund, and Community GiftShares. Calvert Foundation’s total loan portfolio now reaches $92 million. In 2005 alone, the Foundation disbursed $12.89 million to borrowers ranging from coffee cooperatives, affordable housing developers, and small business support centers to international microfinance intermediaries. These groups are subjected to industry-leading due diligence by Calvert Foundation to ensure both portfolio strength and high social impact. Please note: Calvert Foundation is a separate entity from Calvert Group Ltd. and its products should not be confused with any Calvert Group-sponsored investment product. ABOUT WACHOVIA CORPORATION Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services companies, providing a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. Including the Golden West merger, which closed on October 1, 2006, Wachovia has retail and commercial banking operations in 21 states with 3,400 retail banking offices from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California. In addition, two core businesses operate under the Wachovia Securities brand name: retail brokerage with 737 offices in 49 states and in Latin America, and corporate and investment banking in selected industries nationwide. Other nationwide businesses include mortgage lending in 39 states and auto finance covering 46 states. Globally, Wachovia serves clients through more than 40 international offices. Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and services at http://www.wachoviasec.com, and investment products and services at http://www.evergreeninvestments.com. At September 30, 2006, Wachovia had assets of $559.9 billion and market capitalization of $88.2 billion. On the same date, based on pro forma data, Wachovia’s combined assets were approximately $700 billion and combined market capitalization was $107 billion. ABOUT OPPORTUNITY FINANCE NETWORK The Opportunity Finance Network is the leading network of private financial intermediaries with a proven expertise in lending prudently and productively in unconventional markets often overlooked by conventional financial institutions. Working in urban, rural, and reservation-based markets we deliver sound financial returns and real changes for people and communities. The Members of Opportunity Finance Network originated more than $11 Billion in financing through 2005. This has generated or maintained 170,693 jobs; 35,441 businesses; 484,943 housing units; and 5,153 community facility projects. With cumulative net charge-off rates of less than 1% we are dedicated to closing the gap between promising opportunities and real accomplishments for our nation’s people, communities, and markets that are outside the economic mainstream today. For more details, go to http://www.opportunityfinance.net. CONTACT: Pat Mitchell, for Calvert Foundation, (703) 276-3266 and pmitchell@hastingsgroup.com; Aimee Worsley, Wachovia, (704) 715-2005 and aimee.worsley@wachovia.com. EDITOR’S NOTE: Digital photos of the winners from the award ceremony will be available for download on November 2, 2006 at http://www.opportunityfinance.net/photos.
The buyout of proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services
(ISS) was announced by RiskMetrics Group, a financial risk analytics firm spun-out of JP Morgan in 1998. ISS will operate as a separate, wholly-owned subsidiary of RiskMetrics Group with operations largely unchanged. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
A socially responsible large cap equity index strategy tracking the Domini 400 Social Index
(DSI) for institutional investors has been launched by Northern Trust Global Investments (NTGI), which manages more than $20 billion in socially-screened assets.
A new reputational risk report service has been launched by Institutional Shareholder Services
(ISS) to address corporate environmental and social issues. The reports will be written by ISS's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Analytics division. Beginning in 2007, ISS will offer an online platform to allow investors to view detailed sustainability reports for 1,400 US, Canadian and European companies, and to compare each company against its industry peers across national boundaries.
The 2006 Moskowitz Prize for Socially Responsible Investing
has been awarded to Professor Brad Barber of the University of California at Davis for his study, Monitoring the Monitor: Evaluating CalPERS' Shareholder Activism. For more information, read the socialFunds article on the study. The Moskowitz Prize is awarded annually by the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business, in cooperation with the Social Investment Forum (SIF), for the best empirical research on socially responsible investing. Honorable mentions went to Harrison Hong and Marcin Kacperczyk for their Princeton University Working Paper, The Price of Sin: The Effects on Social Norms on Markets and to Baruch Lev, Christine Petrovits, and Suresh Radhakrishnan for their Working Paper from New York University’s Stern School of Business, Is Doing Good Good for You? Yes, Charitable Contributions Enhance Revenue Growth.
Financial support for two new nuclear power plants near Belene, Bulgaria has been withdrawn
by UniCredit Group and Deutsche Bank (ticker: DB), according to BankTrack. The move comes one week after Standard and Poor´s downrated the Bulgarian utility NEK from "developing" to "negative" because of its 51 percent participation in Belene, a project with estimated construction costs of between 2 and 3.5 billion euros.
A new socially responsible investing fund has been launched in South Korea
by Nonghyup CA Asset Management--the Nonghyup CA New Honours SRI fund. Ecofrontier is providing the rating information based on the methodology of its partner company, Innovest Strategic Value Advisors.
The world's first certification program
for providers of sustainable responsible investment (SRI) products and services has been launched by the Ethical Investment Association (EIA) in Australia. Completing an online course qualifies providers in four categories--fund managers, superannuation funds, dealer groups, and financial advisers--to license and display an official symbol validating their certification. It is anticipated the categories will extend to community banks, credit unions, and charitable and religious investors in the future.
A report outlining how US insurance companies can address climate change
was released by Allianz (ticker: ALVG) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The report makes a number of recommondations, including for both governments and insurance companies to help correct market distortions, for US insurers to begin incorporating future potential climate change impacts such as continued sea level rise and longer fire seasons into planning (rather than relying only on historical data of past weather events), and for insurers to influence land use development and planning in high risk areas.
The annual BENNY Awards
have been granted for outstanding achievement in advancing corporate ethics by the Business Ethics Network (BEN). The $15,000 First Prize went to the "Think Outside the Bottle: Challenge Corporate Control of Water" campaign by Corporate Accountability International targeting Coca-Cola (ticker: KO) and PepsiCo (PEP). The $10,000 Second Prize went the the Sakhalin II campaign by Sakhalin Environment Watch and Pacific Environment targeting Shell (RD). And the $5,000 Third Prize went to the Clean Up Ecuador campaign by Amazon Watch targeting Chevron (CVX).
A new report on global energy consumption and carbon emissions
has been issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Entitled The World in 2050, the report compares a "business as usual" approach with a "Green Growth Plus" approach that calls for emission reductions due to a greener fuel mix, annual energy efficiency gains over and above the historic trend, and widespread use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Of the scenarios considered in the report, only this "Green Growth Plus" strategy stabiliZes atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations by 2050 at what the current scientific consensus suggests would be broadly acceptable levels.
A federal judge has dismissed an Alien Tort Claims Act case against two Coca-Cola
(ticker: KO) bottlers in Colombia filed by the International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) in 2001 alleging they hired paramilitary groups to kill labor union organizers. However, the ruling opens the door for ILRF to appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
A collaborative initiative to educate independent corporate boardmembers on climate change opportunities and risks</ |