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To receive email alerts from our News page, please click here. 2013May 17, 2013 Ben Lovell' s letter to the SEC supporting mandated corporate political donation disclosureBen Lovell, President of Zevin Asset Management, sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in support of a petition calling for the SEC to mandate corporate political spending disclosure. "As long corporate “personhood” exists, we need to ensure that political spending decisions are made transparently, ideally with authorization from shareholders, and that managements are held accountable for their actions." Click here to read the full letter. Category: Shareholder activism May 17, 2013 Ben Lovell' s letter to the SEC supports mandated corporate political donation disclosureBen Lovell, President of Zevin Asset Management, sends a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in support of a petition calling for the SEC to mandate corporate political spending disclosure. "As long corporate “personhood” exists, we need to ensure that political spending decisions are made transparently, ideally with authorization from shareholders, and that managements are held accountable for their actions." Click here to read the full letter. Category: Shareholder activism May 10, 2013 Sonia Kowal speaks about SRI at recent Envestnet and Institutional Investor conferencesAt the Envestnet conference in Chicago, Sonia Kowal was invited to speak about the role of Sustainable Investing in an Advisory Practice to an audience of financial advisors from around the country. At the Institutional Investor RIA East Investor Forum in Boston, she hosted a Topic Table on Using Expertise in Impact Investing as a Competitive Advantage. Category: Presentations April 29, 2013 Paper published in the Georgetown Public Policy Review: Socially Responsible Investing 3.0Sonia Kowal co-authored a paper published in the Spring 2013 edition of the Georgetown Public Policy Review titled "Socially Responsible Investing 3.0: Understanding Finance and environmental, social, and governance issues in Emerging Markets". Category: In the press April 26, 2013 ZAM urges shareholders to vote for its proposal at ExxonMobil.ZAM posts a "Dear Shareholder" letter on the SEC's website, urging shareholders to vote for our proposal that challenges the company to refrain from political donations. Category: Shareholder activism April 4, 2013 ZAM files shareholder resolution at Darden Restaurants on lobbying disclosureConcerned about lobbying initiatives by Darden, we filed a proposal for the shareholder's meeting demanding dislcosure about Darden's lobbying policies and practices, including both direct and indirect lobbying, for example through trade associations, as well as grassroots lobbying communications. To see the proposal, click here. Category: Shareholder activism March 28, 2013 ZAM hosts discussion on corporate political donationsZAM hosts a BASIC event for the Boston socially responsible investment community on corporate political donations and shareholder activism with experts, Pam Wilmot, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts, and Shelley Alpern, Director of Social Research and Advocacy at Clean Yield AM. Categories: Shareholder activism, Presentations March 18, 2013 SEC sides with ZAM against ExxonThe SEC agreed with our arguments that Exxon should not be allowed to omit our shareholder proposal on political contributions from its proxy ballot in May. To read the SEC's ruling, click here. Category: Shareholder activism March 13, 2013 ZAM statement on fossil fuelsRecent focus on fossil fuel divestment from 350.org as part of the fight against climate change has led us to summarize our approach to investing in the area. Please read our statement here. Our views have been picked up in this Socialfunds.com article. Categories: Shareholder activism, In the press March 9, 2013 Sonia Kowal speaks at the SOCAP: SOUL conferenceAt the SOCAP: SOUL conference, Sonia Kowal speaks on the panel "Small Steps to Accelerate the Good Economy" about how people's investment decisions can influece large corporations and financial institutions. Category: Presentations March 1, 2013 Sequester - Investment UpdateAs we write this, the sequester has come into effect and will add to the current policy of implementing ill-timed reductions in government spending. The sequester mandates cuts to defense and discretionary spending which will reduce GDP growth this year by about 0.6%. This is terrible economic policy as the recovery following the global financial crisis is still weak, and unemployment in the US is still too high. Of course, the sequester came about as a cynical political calculation aimed at the twin agenda of tax cuts for the privileged and cuts to the safety net of social programs for the vulnerable, not as economic policy that would spur higher employment. To read more, click here. Category: Investment Updates February 13, 2013 ZAM responds to SEC challenge by ExxonMobilExxonMobil asked the SEC for permission to omit our shareholder resolution calling for an end to their political contributions from its proxy filing to stop it going to a vote at its Annual Meeting. For our response, please click here. Category: Shareholder activism February 5, 2013 ZAM responds to SEC challenge by ChevronChevron asked the SEC for permission to omit our shareholder resolution calling for a review of its legal action against shareholders from its proxy filing to stop it going to a vote at its Annual Meeting on the grounds of "ordinary business". For our response, please click here. Category: Shareholder activism January 25, 2013 Filing at Stryker over greenhouse gas emissions withdrawn after progressAfter a productive dialogue with Stryker, the filers agree to withdraw their resolution asking the company to adopt and report on qualititive goals for reducing greenhosue gas emissions from its operations. Stryker has agreed to respond to the Carbon Disclosure Project and to adopt and report on a comprehensive greehouse gas reduction plan. Category: Shareholder activism January 22, 2013 ZAM files shareholder resolution at Exxon, asking the company to refrain from making political contributionsBy the sheer volume of money involved, dollar democracy by corporations is drowning out individual political voices and undermining the essence of the American political system. ExxonMobil’s huge political donations are symptomatic of this corrosion of democracy, so as shareholders, we have a responsibility to put a stop to this dangerous behavior. Please click here to read the press release and for more information. This issue was taken up by the investment website, Motley Fool, who titled their article "An Outrageous Form of Corporate Waste". Categories: Shareholder activism, In the press January 22, 2013 ZAM 2012 advocacy highlightsAt Zevin Asset Management (ZAM) we are committed to social change and are actively involved in many efforts to improve sustainability, respect for civil rights and liberties, and economic justice. We are part of many collaborative, long-term efforts to advance progressive causes. Through our work, we hope to give power to other stakeholders, both inside and outside companies to achieve improvements. Please click here to read a summary of our work on environmental, social and governance issues in 2012. Category: Shareholder activism January 15, 2013 Filing at AT&T on net neutrality withdrawnIn response to a shareholder resolution concerning internet policies for wireless networks co-filed by ZAM, AT&T issued a report summairizing its position on the issue. While there were many shortcomings in the report, the filing was withdrawn. Category: Shareholder activism January 11, 2013 Shareowners challenge Chevon for its attack on investorsClick here to read an informational release from The Needmor Fund and Zevin Asset Management regarding the investor reponse to Chevron's attack on shareholder rights. CSRWire and Responsible Investor both ran articles on this initiative. Here is another article from Responsible Investor urging other investors to vote for our shareholder resolution. Categories: Shareholder activism, In the press |
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Boston Firm Zevin Asset Management Pioneers Socially Responsible Investing
Zevin Asset Management, LLC is a global top-down investment management firm whose philosophy is rooted in the idea of avoiding major losses rather than seeking big gains. Our disciplined approach removes the emotion from investing by indentifying attractive regions and sectors from around the world while experienced analysts concentrate on stock selection. For both social and investment reasons, we focus our stock selection on well-managed companies with sustainable business practices.