What a year this has been for shareholder advocacy.
This season we reached a new peak in investor support for ESG (environmental, social, and governance)-related issues. Most of these majority votes during company annual meetings have been for shareholder proposals asking companies to evaluate and describe the rationale for their spending on direct and indirect lobbying activities.
For the fifth year in a row, we have earned a place on the Best for the World lists within the Certified B Corporation community. This year Zevin Asset Management was named Best for Customers by scoring in the top 10 percent of all Certified B Corps because of our firm’s focus on serving clients as we help solve pressing social and environmental issues.
At Zevin Asset Management, we build responsible investment portfolios for our clients. We then address risks and create positive social impact by engaging with portfolio companies.
Structural racism, surveillance technology, and worker safety, wellness, and wages were all brought to the table at Amazon’s annual meeting earlier this month. Shareholders made clear that the company needs to adopt better corporate governance to properly address these issues. We presented a proposal asking for an independent chair on Amazon’s board of directors. We believe Jeff Bezos will not foster fresh perspectives to counter the problems Amazon faces given that he created many of them as founder and CEO.
Steven Dray, senior portfolio manager and CIO, discusses his thoughts on the market as we enter the third quarter of 2021:
Responsible investors combine their financial objectives with environmental, social, and governance-related risks and impacts. This type of investing goes far beyond simple exclusionary screening or even the much-touted “ESG integration” (environmental, social, and governance integration) that considers only risks and opportunities within the investment itself. Responsible investing gets at the heart of how the philanthropic community can use its unique voice to further the systemic changes that are desperately needed in our economy, society, and environment.
