No Surprises, Please: How an Outdated Regulation Shields the True Extent of Corporate Liabilities
Four years ago, Merck‘s blockbuster anti-anflammatory drug Vioxx came under intense scrutiny. The highly profitable medication was discovered to be closely linked to increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and a flood of litigation followed. The rise and fall of the product was of historic proportions, not only for the company, but for the drug market as well. When it was pulled from pharmacies in September of that year, it was one of the most widely used drugs ever to be withdrawn in the United States. On November 1, 2007, during the height of the litigation, Merck filed its …
Changing the World, One MBA at a Time
The change we want to see in the world is being created by activists, artists, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, responsible investors and … MBAs. Yes, MBAs! Given that corporations have become the dominant institutions on the planet, this represents a much-needed revolution from within, augmenting all the good work making a positive difference from the outside. I recently spent four days at Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) as a Change Agent in Residence, joined by the renowned Native American environmentalist Winona LaDuke, the nation’s leading expert on employee ownership Corey Rosen, and the Chief Operating Officer of the Gates Foundation Cheryl Scott. …
Advocating For Extending Clean Energy Tax Credits
July 29, 2008 In a letter organized by the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) Trillium Asset Management Corporation has joined more than 40 asset managers, pension funds, state treasurers, endowments and foundations to urge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass legislation extending tax credit for clean energy. The extender legislation will help level the playing field with long-term subsidies and help prevent the cancellation of 42,000 MW of planned renewable energy development today in 45 states. To view the entire letter, click here. …
Pressing FASB for Improved Disclosure on Social and Environmental Liabilities
This month, investors were presented with an unusual opportunity to weigh in on a proposed rule change designed to bring potential environmental and social liabilities to light. Trillium Asset Management Corporation (“Trillium”) is acutely aware that there is a long and troubled history of companies underestimating the likelihood of severe financial threats – Enron, the subprime lending crisis, and asbestos liabilities are three recent examples. All too often we have seen that these momentous issues were looming for many years and eventually resulted in catastrophic consequences for investors. In light of the significant concerns raised by the impacts of climate …
Social Research Department Adds New Senior Analyst
Trillium Asset Management Corporation’s Social Research department has hired a new senior research analyst, Jonas Kron. Jonas is an attorney specializing in corporate shareholder advocacy and institutional investor fiduciary duties as they apply to environmental, social and corporate governance issues. He is a highly respected member of the investor community with extensive experience in virtually all areas of shareholder advocacy. For more information about Jonas, see his full biography here. …
Shareholder Proposal on Sudan Presented at JP Morgan Chase Stockholder Meeting
Statement at JP Morgan Chase Stockholder Meeting in Support of Resolution No. 10 Concerning Human Rights Policies May 20, 2008 Good morning, Mr. Chairman, Board of Directors & my fellow shareholders. I am presenting this proposal on behalf of Trillium Asset Management Corporation, the Calvert Group, Amnesty International and the General Board of Pensions and Health Benefits of the United Methodist Church. [The proposal received 7.5% support from fellow shareholders.] Resolution No. 10 calls for a report to shareowners discussing how our investment policies address or could address human rights issues, with a view toward adding appropriate policies and …
Investors Decry BP's Entry Into Tar Sands
INVESTORS DECRY BP’S ENTRY INTO TAR SANDS Statement to be submitted at BP annual meeting today in London Contacts: Shelley Alpern, Trillium Asset Management Corporation (617) 292-8026, x 248 Lauren Compere, Boston Common Asset Management (617) 720-5557 April 17, 2008 (Boston) – A group of American and British investors released a statement today expressing disappointment at BP’s (NYSE: BP) investment in the Canadian tar sands, calling the move a “disturbing step backwards.” A representative from the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility intends the statement at BP’s annual stockholder meeting, which is taking place today at ExCeL London in London …
Sustainable Returns
How High Are Sustainable Financial Returns? The investment ecosystem has reached a tipping point and the interest in responsible, sustainable investing is surging. Asset owners with over $10 trillion have signed up to the UN Principles for Responsible Investment. The Investor Network on Climate Risk now has over $5 trillion behind it. The leading investment consultant to Foundations will now provide Mission Related Investing services. More corporations are institutionalizing sustainability concepts into their organizations and business education is inching away from the blinkered study of money making toward imagining socially positive enterprises with multiple bottom lines. A recent online survey …
Big Coal Losing Momentum in the U.S.
Poor coal. For so long, it has gotten away with being the largest contributor (41 percent) to global CO2 emissions from energy use, a widespread public health hazard by virtue of lead, mercury and other pollutants, the source of black lung disease, and now we can add deforestation to its achievements. “Coal will be coal,” they said. “Isn’t it great that it’s cheap and abundant?” Coal claims that it’s now clean and has offered to change its ways by burying its carbon instead of spewing it all over the atmosphere, but its persecutors have obtained restraining orders and are bent …
Turn Down the Heat – It's Getting Warmer
With all the talk out there about energy efficiency and reduced use, I can’t help but think of my mom, telling us kids to put on a sweater, the heat would not go up. I laugh at the person I’ve become, as I tell my own kids the same thing, adding the environmental commentary that it’s one little thing we can do and if we don’t, climate change will turn up the heat more than we’d like – before we know it. So what’s a shareholder to do, in this day and age of climate change, when a company in …
Recent Comments