US SIF: National Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing Conference to Address Cutting Edge Issues
US SIF to Host 4th Annual Conference: Markets, Mission & Materiality May 20-21, 2014 in Washington, DC MAY 15, 2014 // WASHINGTON, DC: US SIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment will host its fourth annual conference, “Markets, Mission and Materiality” in Washington, DC, May 20-21. Compelling topics for the investment industry and sustainability practitioners include: Whether millennials are more interested than other investors in sustainable and impact investing; New strategies and products in fixed income, community and impact investing; How activists and company executives are working to build more sustainable companies; The investment case for reducing income inequality; Advancing ESG …
Open Internet Proposal at Verizon Wins $30.6 Billion of Shareholder Vote
Support Comes as FCC Weighs New Network Neutrality Rules New York, NY // MAY 8, 2014: A shareholder proposal calling on Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) to report on business risks arising from the company’s opposition to open Internet and network neutrality principles has gained important new support from investors, winning 26.4% of the vote at Verizon’s annual meeting on May 1, 2014. The vote comes as the Federal Communications Commission considers the possibility of new open Internet rules to be introduced by Chairman Tom Wheeler at a commission meeting on May 15. Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet …
MassLive.com: Fossil Fuel Divestment Weighed by Massachusetts Legislature
The Springfield Republican/MassLive.com recently published a story regarding the history of pension divestment in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the current push for the state to divest its pension assets from the fossil fuel industry. Shira Schoenberg writes: “In 1997, then-state Sen. Warren Tolman co-sponsored a bill to divest the state’s pension fund from tobacco companies. It was a way to stigmatize the companies and force them to stop marketing to young people. Years earlier, Tolman had supported divesting the state’s holdings from companies doing business in South Africa, part of a campaign to end apartheid. ‘I think you look …
Trillium Joins Investors and Environmentalists Call for SEC to Investigate Dominion’s Cove Point Claims
Platts, which is a division of McGraw Hill Financial, recently published a story regarding investors and environmentalists’ concerns around the Dominion Energy’s proposed export of liquefied natural gas from Cove Point, Maryland. Rodney White writes: “A coalition of four environmental and shareholder groups opened a new front in their campaign to block the export of liquefied natural gas from Dominion’s Cove Point terminal in Maryland by filing a complaint with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday. Trillium Asset Management, As You Sow, Earthjustice and Chesapeake Climate Action Network said Dominion “has potentially omitted or inadequately disclosed significant risks …
Coastal Mountains Land Trust: Reflecting Our Values Without Compromise
By Doug Sensenig, Executive Director, Coastal Mountains Land Trust The community of people who created and continue the work of Coastal Mountains Land Trust love beautiful landscapes and the effect they have on people’s spirits and our local economy. Since 1986 we have protected almost 10,000 acres of the hills, forests and fields of Maine’s western Penobscot Bay. Our carefully targeted program works with willing landowners to protect land permanently, whether through conservation easements or outright purchase. People choose to live in our area because of its outstanding natural beauty and quality of life. The small towns scattered along the …
Pensions & Investments: Trillium Votes Against Berkshire Hathaway Board Due to Lack of Any Minority Representation
Pensions & Investments recently published an article about how investors were voting their Berkshire Hathaway proxies at the company’s shareholder meeting, which took place this past weekend. Barry B. Burr writes: “Berkshire Hathaway Inc. faces opposition to the re-election of directors from CalSTRS, Florida State Board of Administration and Trillium Asset Management, according to their proxy voting disclosures…Trillium Asset Management will vote against the election of all 11 directors, including Warren E. Buffett, chairman and CEO… Trillium opposes all of the directors because of a lack of any minority representation on the board, said Jonas Kron, Trillium senior vice president-director …
Sister Patricia Daly, Visionary Leader Dedicated to Environmental Justice, Receives 2014 Joan Bavaria Award
APRIL 30, 2014 // BOSTON, MA: Long-time shareholder advocate and executive director of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment, Sister Patricia Daly, OP has been awarded the sixth-annual Joan Bavaria Award for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. The announcement was made today at the annual Ceres Conference, which is running April 30 – May 1 at The Westin Waterfront Hotel in Boston, MA. A pioneer of socially responsible investing, for more than 35 years Daly has helped move companies such as General Electric, ExxonMobil and Ford to improve their sustainability practices and change the way they address environmental, social …
Trillium Commends Panera Bread for Initiating Sustainability Reporting Process
APRIL 14, 2014 // BOSTON, MA: Trillium Asset Management (Trillium) is pleased to announce that we have withdrawn our 2014 shareholder proposal, which was filed on behalf of The Christopher Reynolds Foundation, at Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) following a commitment from the company to publish a sustainability report by December 1, 2015. Panera will conduct a materiality assessment in 2014 in order to identify and prioritize issues that are material to the company. Managing, and reporting on, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) business practices helps companies compete in a global business environment characterized by finite natural resources, changing legislation, and …
Middlebury College Panel Discussion: Challenges and Opportunities of Socially Responsible Investing
On Monday, April 7, 2014 Trillium’s Stephanie Leighton, CFA participated in a SRI-focused panel at Middlebury College in Vermont. Stephen Diehl, of the Middlebury College Pressroom, writes: “The panel, moderated by Student Government Association President Rachel Liddell ’15, included six investment experts and focused on how institutions can incorporate an Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG) framework in their investment-selection process and how professionals evaluate fossil-fuel investments in educational and foundation endowments… Trillium Asset Management partner and portfolio manager Stephanie Leighton said her firm is seeing less of the avoidance approach that characterized divestment from South Africa in the 1980s. ‘The real trend …
Trillium Successfully Withdraws Land Rights Shareholder Proposal at PepsiCo
APRIL 2014 // BOSTON, MA: Trillium Asset Management (Trillium) is pleased to announce the successful withdrawal of our 2014 shareholder proposal at PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) following the company’s public adoption of a zero tolerance policy for illegal activities in its supply chain regarding land displacements of any legitimate land tenure holders. Trillium co-filed this shareholder proposal with Oxfam America requesting that the company address land rights issues throughout its supply chain. As the demand for sugar cane increases, there is concern over large-scale land grabs in developing countries that evict traditional farmers through coercion or fraud. Oxfam’s leadership and …
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