BNY Mellon Commits to Greater Transparency Around Plans to Improve Diversity on the Executive Team

Boston, MA // January 24, 2019: Trillium Asset Management is pleased to announce that it has withdrawn its workforce diversity shareholder proposal at Bank of New York Mellon. Following a productive engagement, BNY Mellon agreed to expand its diversity and inclusion reporting with a focus on the executive team. The expanded report will discuss how BNY Mellon sets specific diversity goals for leaders, including the executive leadership team, to hold them accountable for improved workplace diversity, with particular emphasis on diversifying senior management.
Last fall Trillium filed a shareholder proposal asking BNY Mellon to assess the current state of its executive leadership team diversity and its plan to make this team more diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. BNY Mellon’s transparency on workforce diversity is commendable, but the workforce data illustrates the company’s slow progress in building racial and ethnic diversity into the top ranks. The representation of non-white employees rapidly diminishing with rank. Investors care for good reason – research has found that diversity can impact the bottom line. According to 2017 research by Morgan Stanley, companies with higher gender diversity tend to have better fundamentals and better risk-adjusted performance. Additionally research from McKinsey & Company has found companies with highly diverse executive teams had higher returns on equity and earnings performance than those with low diversity.[1]
We commend BNY Mellon for engaging in a productive dialogue. By sharing this information we believe the Company contributes to a culture of transparency and accountability. We look forward to future dialogue to discuss BNY Mellon’s progress against its strategy.

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Contact: Brianna Murphy, Trillium Asset Management, bmurphy[at]trilliuminvest.com
Important disclosure: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned. It should not be assumed that investments in such securities have been or will be profitable. The specific securities were selected on an objective basis and do not represent all of the securities purchased, sold or recommended for advisory clients.