Morningstar’s assessment of the anti-ESG shareholder proposals filed by the National Legal and Policy Center has produced a whiny non-rebuttal, by the non-profit described by SourceWatch as “a front group and industry funded right-wing political and policy lobbying organization. NLPC was founded in 1991 by Peter Flaherty and Ken Boehm, who previously worked for ‘Citizens for Reagan.’” SourceWatch notes…
Riskwashing: How the crusade against ESG is hurting businesses, taxpayers and retirees – ImpactAlpha
Call it ‘riskwashing.’ Most stewards of other people’s money want more, not less, information about possible investment risks. Not Republican governors and state treasurers, who have mounted a coordinated campaign from public office to limit or prevent the consideration of ESG, for environmental, social and governance risks, in the management of state and local assets.Take…
Missouri AG Launches Bogus Investigation Into Morningstar’s Use of ESG Factors
Missouri Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading a multistate investigation into Morningstar, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Sustainalytics, for potential violations of consumer protection and anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) laws. Without any pretense of a factual basis, Paxton made a sweeping allegation: “The ESG movement is the latest tool that woke corporations are…
Narendra Tiwari: Building ESG: The Rise of ESG Rating Providers
Many thanks to Narendra Tiwari for permission to post this article: With growing interest in ESG criteria, investors need a way to objectively asses the ESG performance of a company. This has led to the flourishing of a number of ESG Rating Agencies such as Sustainalytics MSCI Inc. and FTSE Russell, An LSEG Business who asses companies globally on their…
Managing Shareholders in the Age of Stakeholder Capitalism
Steadily rising societal expectations are pushing companies to put their stakeholders first, and shareholders second — but some shareholders are not having it. Companies that don’t comply with the stakeholder capitalism agenda are quickly sanctioned by consumer groups and the media; and CEOs who fall short can become instant pariahs. As a result, companies are…
Larry Fink: Here’s Your Answer to the Despicable Letter from the GOP Attorneys General
From VEA Vice Chair Nell Minow: I’m sure BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s response to the obnoxious, accusatory, misleading, letter he received from 19 Republican state attorneys general will be measured, diplomatic, and thoroughly lawyered over. He will hope to mollify them to continue to be able to do business with the government pension funds. That is only…
Doug Chia on the Slippery S in ESG
We applaud the comment filed by Doug Chia on the importance of transparency in the names of would-be and so-called ESG funds. He points out that PIMCO’s “Total Return ESG Fund” has a name that does not reveal its exclusion of reproductive health-related companies. Prospective investors have to dig into the materials to see: the…
West Virginia bars five financial firms for deemed fossil fuel ‘boycotts’ | Reuters
West Virginia has barred five major financial institutions, including Blackrock Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) , from new state business after determining that they were boycotting the fossil fuel industry.Goldman Sachs (GS.N) , Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co are also barred on similar grounds, according to State Treasurer Riley Moore.Spokespeople for…
More Misleading Anti-ESG Propaganda from the Ultra-Right Washington Examiner
The ultra-right wing Washington Examiner, owned by billionaire Phil Anschutz, has a distorted, misleading article about ESG. The lack of nuance is indicated with the illustration. The rhetoric is even more unhinged. For example: ESG and stakeholder capitalism are not forces of good. Rather, they are the camouflage for the forces that have led to…
SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw: Late Summer Sunshine: Statement on the Adoption of Pay Versus Performance
Today the Commission adopted a rule that provides investors with information about how corporate executives are paid. That is, quite simply, it. This rule does not regulate the way companies incentivize their executives, but rather the disclosures that companies are required to make about such compensation. More specifically, Pay Versus Performance disclosures give investors insight…
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