Update -- on First Quarter 2018 ESG / Sustainable Investment Developments Continuing our commentary on the theme suggested by MSCI's Linda Eiling Lee of Volume and Velocity in 2018 (of change) – current developments have been signalling dramatic and rapid changes in sustainable investing and corporate sustainability in the First Quarter… Read More
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS LAUNCH ALLIANCE FOCUSED ON HUMAN RIGHTS
February 8, 2018
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) Provides Leadership for Investor Collaboration To Advance Corporate Sector and Investor Action on Human Rights Issues The recently-launched Investor Alliance for Human Rights managed by ICCR provides a collective action platform to consolidate and increase institutional investor influence on key business and human rights issues.… Read More
Volume and Velocity: These may well be the key characteristics of developments in corporate sustainability and in sustainable investing in the year 2018 -- MSCI and BlackRock Setting the Pace... Bigger, faster, more...this is how Linda-Eling Lee, Global Head of Research for MSCI’s ESG Research Group and her colleague Matt… Read More
THE UNIVERSE OF ESG RANKERS SERVING INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR CLIENTS EXPANDS to Include a Significant Player: Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
January 16, 2018
ISS’ Traditional Corporate Governance Focus Expanding to Encompass Environmental & Social QualityScores for Roughly 1,500 Public Companies Coming in January…And Expanding to 5,000 Issuers in Q2 A significant new player is now entering the universe of the growing number of third-party organizations providing institutional investors with ESG rankings and data… Read More
INVESTORS AND THE SDGS — AND YOUR COMPANY. How Are Investors Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals to Evaluate the Performance of Public Companies?
January 12, 2018
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by 193 nation-members of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. There are 17 goals and 169 “subsets” or targets. To achieve the goals over time (out to the 2030 target date), collaboration among investors, companies, governments, the UN system, other multilateral… Read More
FROM OEKOM RESEARCH: Global Companies Pay Close Attention to Third Party Sustainability Rankings, Ratings — And Adjust Strategies Accordingly
November 21, 2017
Issue 4.1 It's a question often raised by boards and senior executives, posed to the management team members: What is the impact, if any, of third-party sustainability rating agencies on our position in the capital markets? Oekom, the global sustainability research organization, has been asking that question annually since 2013. And… Read More
Issue 2.3 - October 4 2017 Tech companies are especially in the crosshairs on this and related issues. This is a heads up, especially, to Tech firm executives and board rooms and key insiders of all company sizes: Powerful key capital market players don't like to see IPOs coming to market now with… Read More
NORWAY SWF REACHES US$1 TRILLION IN ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT — Is Your Company in its Global Investment Portfolio?
September 27, 2017
Issue 2.2 The first "Sovereign Wealth Fund" ("SWF") was created in 1954 by the Middle East nation of Kuwait using oil revenues to establish a "fund for the future" to benefit the people of that strategic oil & gas producing country on the west end of the Persian Gulf. In… Read More
TRACKING ESG RATINGS PLAYERS INFLUENCING THE CAPITAL MARKETS…Are These Organizations Watching Your Company?
August 31, 2017
Helping you keep track of the ESG / Sustainability third party analytics service providers assigning Scores, Ratings, Rankings, and Best-in-Class recognitions to Publicly-traded Corporations. This is a feature that will be regularly updated as developments warrant. There is a lot of change going on in this space. BACKGROUND There is… Read More
THE CORPORATE PROXY VOTING SEASON: When Company-Shareowner Engagement May Not Be Working — Investors Look to the Ballot Box
August 31, 2017
Issue 1.8 Shareholder proxy activism is a year-round activity now, with peak periods of communication on critical issues during the early months of the year... in the traditional proxy voting season. The effects of spring 2017 voting could reverberate for the company long after the voting is counted. Some issues that once were tiny vote-generators… Read More
Issue 1.7 Question for you: Is your firm selling to Adidas AG, Becton Dickinson, Herman Miller, HP Inc, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Wal-Mart Stores ... and other firms that are charting their chemical footprint? These companies are quantitatively measuring their own chemical footprint to develop information on such things… Read More
Issue 1.1 - August 2017 More climate-related disclosure in your company's income statement / cash flow statement / balance sheet? How will your company be affected? How will you be affected by the FSB TFCD guidelines for your company's ESG disclosure? The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is a global, multi-stakeholder organization that brings… Read More
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