Apple Elects Second Woman to Board of Directors – Demonstrating Commitment to Diversity

July 21, 2014: The Sustainability Group of Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge and Trillium Asset Management, LLC commend Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) for electing Sue Wagner, founding partner and director of BlackRock, to its Board of Directors. Ms. Wagner is widely acknowledged as a strategic thinker and pioneer in the field of finance.  Given her experience in mergers and acquisitions, Ms. Wagner is a strong addition to the Board as Apple continues to expand its business globally.
Following dialogue with Trillium and The Sustainability Group in December 2013, Apple updated its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter to include strong language on the importance of diversity in its candidate selection for the Board of Directors. The document makes clear that the committee actively seeks “highly qualified women and individuals from minority groups to include in the pool from which Board nominees are chosen.”
Numerous studies have documented that greater board and management diversity results in improved corporate governance, competitiveness and financial performance. With the recent appointment of Angela Ahrendts to the executive team, we are encouraged that Apple is taking some of the right steps on this critical management issue.
As investors, we are pleased that Apple has moved quickly to demonstrate its commitment to board diversity.

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