Richard Ferlauto Posthumously Awarded the 2018 Bavaria Award for Lifelong Leadership in Corporate Governance
April 27, 2018// Boston, MA – Richard Ferlauto, co-founder of the 50/50 Climate Project and a former Deputy Director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has been posthumously awarded the prestigious Joan Bavaria Award for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. The announcement was made Wednesday, April 25th, at the Ceres Conference 2018 at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston. The award is given annually by the sustainability nonprofit organization Ceres and the Boston-based investment firm Trillium Asset Management to honor inspiring global leaders working to move capital markets toward a system that balances economic prosperity with social and environmental issues. …
Letter to Facebook Shareholders: Vote Yes for Risk Oversight Proposal
April 23, 2018 // Boston, MA – Trillium Asset Management published a letter to Facebook’s shareholders encouraging them to vote in favor of a shareholder proposal on the Company’s 2018 proxy. This proposal requests Facebook’s Board issue a report on the merits of establishing a Risk Oversight Board Committee. We believe this proposal represents an important corporate governance reform that would enhance big picture risk oversight mechanisms while helping protect shareholder value. The letter provides the following rationale for voting ‘Yes’: The sheer volume, magnitude, and frequency of Facebook’s controversies strongly suggests that the company’s whack-a-mole approach is insufficient – …
Letter to Middleby Shareholders: Vote Yes for ESG Reporting Proposal
Boston, MA // April 17, 2018 – Trillium Asset Management has published a letter to shareholders of The Middleby Corporation (NASDAQ: MIDD) urging them to vote in favor of a shareholder proposal on the company’s 2018 proxy card. The shareholder proposal asks Middleby to issue a report discussing its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies and performance, including a discussion of climate change management. Our rationale for voting “Yes” is based on the following key points: Middleby last discussed ESG performance in 2010, which does not reflect its operations in 2018. The field of sustainability reporting and peers’ performance have …
Economic & Market Outlook Now Available: First Quarter 2018
April 12, 2018 // Boston, MA – Investors and economists are expressing increasingly divergent opinions about the direction of markets and the economy, as they struggle to evaluate the looming risks of softening growth, rising inflation, and emerging trade conflict. In our last Outlook, we noted that the tax reform plan would clearly increase corporate earnings, but we questioned whether it would have any significant effect on broader economic growth. In January, investors enthusiastically incorporated early information about tax-related earnings increases, driving up U.S. stock prices and elevating valuations. By the end of January, these tax-related earnings boosts were fully …
Barron’s Covers Shareholder Proposal Filed at Facebook
Boston, MA // April 4, 2018 – Barron’s and the Financial Times recently discussed Trillium’s risk oversight committee shareholder proposal filed at social networking service company Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) in October 2017. “[Facebook] needs to build a system for meaningful oversight into its DNA, and avoid the constant, reactive, whack-a-mole approach we’ve seen”, said Jonas Kron, Director of Shareholder Advocacy, in response to recent demand from Facebook investors to manage and monitor risks. The shareholder resolution asks the Company to issue a report discussing the merits of establishing a Risk Oversight Board Committee. Establishing such a committee would foster an integrated, …
Investors Demand Action from Facebook as Controversies Mount
Boston, MA // March 19, 2018 – Trillium Asset Management is alarmed by recent revelations that a data firm gained access to personal information of over 50 million Facebook users and that this data may have been used to shape political advertising and influence voters in the U.S. This controversy has justifiably sparked extensive criticism and concern, including from two U.S. Senators who wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman. They wrote: “to express serious concern regarding recent reports that data from millions of Americans was misused in order to influence voters”. Unfortunately, we do not see this as …
Letter to J.B. Hunt Shareholders: Vote Yes for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Proposal
Boston, MA // March 19, 2018 – Trillium Asset Management has published a letter to shareholders of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) urging them to vote in favor of a shareholder proposal on the company’s 2018 proxy card. The proposal asks J.B. Hunt to adopt company-wide, quantitative, science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its vehicle fleet and operations as well as issue a report, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, discussing its plans and progress towards achieving these targets. The letter provides the following rationale for voting “Yes”: There is a strong business case for why JBHT should …
Trillium Featured in As You Sow 2018 Proxy Preview Report
Boston, MA // March 16, 2018 – In a year of rapidly shifting public policy, investors have filed more than 400 resolutions about environmental, social and sustainable governance issues for shareholders to consider this spring. Proxy Preview 2018, a collaboration between Proxy Impact, Si2, and As You Sow, helps investors align their investments with their values and includes analysis and insight on workforce diversity, cyber security, and data privacy from leading experts including Susan Baker, Brianna Murphy, and Jonas Kron of Trillium Asset Management’s shareholder advocacy team. The report addresses the following: A total of more than 400 shareholder resolution filings …
Elizabeth Levy Discusses Divesting from Firearms with Soledad O’Brien
Boston, MA // March 13, 2018 – Elizabeth Levy, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, and Research Analyst at Trillium Asset Management, recently appeared on Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien to discuss the recent call to action from investors to divest from firearms and weapons-related companies in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting. “We see divestment as one of the tools where we need to bring pressure as consumers…it’s just another tool that we can use to keep all of the pressure on these companies”, said Liz in response to using divestment as a strategy. As sustainable and …
New SF Chronicle Op-Ed – Make a Difference: Disinvest From Guns
Boston, MA // March 5, 2018 – On Friday, March 2nd, The San Francisco Chronicle published an op-ed authored by Trillium Asset Management’s Director of Shareholder Advocacy Jonas Kron titled, “Make a difference: Disinvest from guns”. Read the full op-ed below and on www.sfchronicle.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. Make …
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