This year’s PWC survey of corporate directors has some striking findings. 49 percent of the directors surveyed believe at least one of their fellow board members should not be serving. More boards are doing self-assessments but many boards are focusing on some of the easier things to change, such as adding more expertise to the…
Apple investor vote sounds ‘warning’ over China app takedowns
An Apple Inc shareholder proposal critical of the company’s app removals in China received a relatively high level of support at the iPhone maker’s annual meeting on Wednesday, enough to push the company to respond, experts said. The proposal, which called for Apple to report whether it has “publicly committed to respect freedom of expression…
The Future Climate Economy Will Be Decentralized: Green Insight – Bloomberg
the energy transition, climate change and social demographic trends are set to create a world where everything is more decentralized. One example of what may be coming is in Japan, which this week announced that it’s planning to revamp its green power law to promote distributed solar power. We’re already getting a major preview of the future…
Sparks Fly in Comments on SEC Proxy Advisor Proposals — Bloomberg
The notice and comment process for SEC rulemaking typically generates turgid prose and repetitive argument. That is definitely not the case with regard to the comments on the SEC’s proxy advisor proposals. Corporate governance expert Nell Minow stated that the rules as proposed would “undermine a crucial element of accountability to shareholders by severely hampering…
SEC’s new proxy adviser regulations will harm real Main Street investors
Lorraine Kelly of ISS makes a strong statement in opposition to the SEC’s proposed restrictions on proxy advisors. To be clear, this proposal is not being driven by institutional investors that hire proxy advisers; our customers are not asking for the government to intervene in the crafting and publication of corporate governance research and recommendations….
Ex-Facebook executive starts group to help employees push companies on climate – Reuters
Beyond their own operations, however, many companies have refrained from advocating for broader solutions needed to avoid a global catastrophe, said Bill Weihl, who led sustainability efforts at Facebook and Google and will head the new organization, ClimateVoice. Employees at tech companies have objected to selling cloud services to Big Oil, and companies are reticent…
Inequality Isn’t Shareholders’ Fault, But They Can Help Fix It – WSJ
Investors who want to do good while still doing well shouldn’t worry too much about high levels of corporate profit. They should worry about exorbitant executive pay. Income inequality remains the elephant in the room for asset managers who factor environmental, social and governance criteria into their investment decisions. It is an important one, though….
Most Overpaid CEO Webinar Featuring Nell Minow — February 25, 2020
Join VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow in As you Sow’s webinar discussing their latest report on CEO Pay. As You Sow’s Rosanna Landis Weaver, Founder and CEO of HIP Investor, Paul Herman, and ex-Secretary of Labor Robert Reich in a live webinar, for a scintillating analysis of the most egregiously overpaid CEOS of the S&P…
Ilmarinen invests more than $600 million in BlackRock ESG ETF
BlackRock’s newest ESG-integrated ETF — iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders — received a substantial investment of more than $600 million on its third day of trading. The investment Monday by Helsinski-based Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co. is its second in a BlackRock ESG-focused ETF. “iShares previously worked with Ilmarinen to launch … iShares ESG MSCI…
More Baloney from Another Chamber of Commerce Sock Puppet
There’a another comment on the SEC’s proxy advisory proposal from a Chamber of Commerce funded dark money front group. This one was previously focused only on getting corporate-friendly lawyers appointed to the court (they actually argued that it was okay to have all white male nominees because the selections were based on qualifications, ignoring the…
