Buy side Archive

Trillium filed nine board or executive diversity proposals in 2019, up from four last year. What’s behind that focus? These shareholder proposals on executive team diversity were the first of their kind to be filed. This first effort was a proof of concept to see what the results and outcomes would be, and we thought it was very positive both in terms of companies making commitments to improve diversity and, when we did need to go to a vote, getti...

Rather than getting caught up in a debate over fiduciary duty or whether or not sustainability or ESG performance is material, let’s just cut to the chase on the latest BlackRock letter. It’s still a company’s choice whether to disclose ESG information. If your company is selling a product or a service, you are obviously responding to customer demands and interests. So what about customers buying your stock? If they are increasingly asking for ESG information, how do...

BlackRock has this week made major announcements highlighting renewed efforts to integrate climate change into its investment process – putting greater pressure on boards to act on the firm’s climate-related concerns raised during engagements.  In his annual letter to CEOs, BlackRock chair and CEO Larry Fink notes that climate change ‘has become a defining factor in com...

UK pension funds lead the list of targets for the Impact Investing Institute next year, in the latest example of asset owners pressuring asset managers to integrate ESG factors into their decision-making process. Launched in November in London, the Impact Investing Institute is an independent non-profit formed by a group of impact investment advocates. It believes impact investment helps pension holders reconnect with the purpose of capital while satisfying a strong...