Category Archives: Investor Governance

Fulfilling America’s Promise: Build Equity, Bridge the Gap

The TakeAway: As we celebrate Independence Day, it’s time to rededicate ourselves to those very ideals on which our nation was founded: liberty, opportunity, and justice for all. That means bridging the equity gap that undermines the American dream and … Continue reading

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Trustees Are Not Thermometers

Fifth in a  Series: Time to Talk About the Public Interest The TakeAway: In the United States, key to our political form of representative self-governance is the idea of good trusteeship, of stewardship, of wise statecraft. The same holds for corporate … Continue reading

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Civic Virtue as the Animating Ideal

Fourth in a Series: Time to Talk About the Public Interest The TakeAway: Despite the great strides made toward incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into economic decision making, these ideas are untethered from a moral paradigm or ethos … Continue reading

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A Valentine’s Bouquet: Twelve for 2012

The TakeAway: The blooms of sustainable prosperity and justice are fed by at least twelve currents that will get stronger throughout 2012. They involve the maturation of corporate social responsibility and corporate governance; rethinking the meaning of “fiduciary”; balancing internationalism … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Corporate Political Activity, Corporate Reporting, Corporate Sustainability, Human Rights, Interactive Technology, Investor Governance, Natural Disasters, Proxy Voting, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainable Investing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory

The TakeAway: Harvard’s Initiative for Responsible Investment works to build a “master narrative” for responsible investing, along with educational tools for improving trustee performance. Massive changes in financial regulations and ramped up activism – aided in part by interactive technology – make … Continue reading

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Divesting from Genocide: A Fiduciary Duty?

The TakeAway: Congressional hearing on ways to improve the Sudan Accountability & Investment Act proposes using the UN “Protect, Respect, Remedy” human rights framework to define fiduciary duty. The moral case for flexing investment muscle (from shareowner engagement to outright … Continue reading

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Sustainability News Roundup

The TakeAway: BP’s transparency, the power of proxy advisory firms, and uncontrolled campaign spending BP disaster: truth or “integrated spin”?  | Today’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal report that Halliburton knowingly supplied “unstable” cement to BP to seal … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Political Activity, Corporate Reporting, Corporate Sustainability, Investor Governance, Proxy Voting, Public Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Who Pays the True Cost of Environmental Damage?

The TakeAway: Institutional investors need to assert their ownership power to offset environmental costs and push for sustainable companies and public policy. Despite the worldwide recession, the economic crisis isn’t the only cause of financial losses affecting innocent bystanders.  There’s … Continue reading

Posted in Biosphere Economy, Climate Change, Corporate Governance, Corporate Sustainability, Investor Governance, Natural Disasters, Public Policy, Sustainable Investing | 2 Comments

Board Risk Oversight: Bridging the Corporate-Investor Governance Divide

The TakeAway: New International Corporate Governance Network risk oversight guidelines emphasize joint corporate and investor accountability. Bacon and eggs.  Oil and vinegar.  Peanut butter and jelly.  Corporate and investor governance.  The first three duos are well known, but few appreciate … Continue reading

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Sustainability and Good Governance: A Work In Progress

The TakeAway: Two new reports advance convergence of governance and sustainability, but gaps  between formal responsibility and actual performance still need crossing. The rising popularity of the term ESG (environmental, social, and governance) suggests common ground between sustainability and corporate … Continue reading

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Something Old, Something New…

Part Two of Three Parts The TakeAway: Organized philanthropy wakes up to new opportunities for connecting their grantmaking ideals to their investments, thereby addressing problems more comprehensively Earlier this week, a group of foundation presidents, treasurers, and trustees – representing … Continue reading

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The New Fiduciary: Stewardship and Sensibility

The TakeAway: Changes in financial regulations place new responsibilities on institutional investors, requiring new forms of engagement, education, and behavior. These days, financial and corporate governance reform advocates have concentrated a lot of attention on corporate boards, and for good … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Reporting, Corporate Sustainability, Investor Governance, Proxy Voting, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainable Investing, Web 2.0 | 4 Comments

NOTABLE PEOPLE: Bob Monks and the Battle to Change Corporate America

The TakeAway: Bob Monks believes new corporate governance reforms fall short, but digital tools can help advance accountability goals. Robert A.G. Monks has a long history of pioneering work on corporate accountability.  From his tenure as first Department of Labor … Continue reading

Posted in Corporate Governance, Corporate Sustainability, Interactive Technology, Investor Governance, Notable People, Proxy Voting, Public Policy, Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainable Investing, Web 2.0 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Fiduciary Failure: Closing the ESG Disclosure Gap

The TakeAway: Flex your muscles, report tells investors, to get better environmental, social, and governance reporting (and practice) from companies. What’s the secret to good corporate governance?  Good investor governance.  That’s why we were delighted by a recent report from … Continue reading

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