Trillium Signs Open Letter to U.S. EPA Calling for Moratorium on Neonicotinoids to Protect Honey Bee Population
On December 2, 2013, Trillium Asset Management was one of over 60 organizations that joined CERES Trust, Center for Food Safety, Pesticide Action Network and Beyond Pesticides in signing an open letter to the U.S. EPA asking the Agency to impose an immediate moratorium on the use of neonicotinoids, a toxic pesticide that is believed to be a major contributing factor to the alarming decline in honey bees. The letter was published as a full page ad in the New York Times. Fifteen countries, not including the U.S., have imposed a two-year restriction on these specific pesticides. The EPA estimates that it …
Trillium Receives “5 Star” Company Rating from GIIRS
November 26, 2013: Trillium Asset Management is pleased to announce that our firm has received a “GIIRS 5 Star” rating for 2013, placing Trillium in the top quintile of GIIRS-rated companies. GIIRS (Global Impact Investing Rating System) is an independent third-party system for assessing the social and environmental impact of developed and emerging market companies and funds. The GIIRS methodology scores companies’ key performance indicators relevant to the company’s industry, geography, size, and social mission on a scale of 1 – 5 stars, in the following impact areas: Governance Workers Community Environment For over 30 years, Trillium has strived to …
Oxfam, AFL-CIO & Trillium File Shareholder Resolution Urging PepsiCo to Address Land Grabs
November 22, 2013: Oxfam, the AFL-CIO, Trillium Asset Management and several other investors today filed a formal shareholder resolution urging PepsiCo to account for land rights violations in its supply chain. A recent investigation by Oxfam revealed that companies supplying sugar to PepsiCo and its franchisees have been implicated in violent land grabs, pushing small farmers off their land and undermining their livelihoods. 33 investors representing more than $1.4 trillion in assets have issued a statement to companies in support of Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign and more than 250,000 people have already signed urging PepsiCo to declare zero tolerance …
Trillium's Statement in Support of FDIC and OCC Guidance on Deposit Advance Products
Trillium Asset Management, LLC commends the FDIC and OCC for issuing its final supervisory guidance on deposit advance products. As an investor in banks that offer or may offer these products we agree with the FDIC and OCC that it is important for banks to incorporate fully and comprehensively the credit, reputational, operational, and compliance risks that these products present. While small-dollar credit products are useful and necessary for consumers, banks have a financial and social responsibility to ensure they are offered in a sound manner. We believe that responsible lending practices that strengthen rather than weaken customers’ financial health …
Reuters: Shareholders Raise Surveillance Concerns at AT&T, Verizon
A pair of privacy-related shareholder resolutions that were recently filed with AT&T and Verizon have been widely covered in the press. Trillium was the lead filer on the Verizon proposal and the NYS Comptroller’s Office was the lead filer on the AT&T proposal. Ross Kerber and Sinead Carew of Reuters write: “Shareholders of telecom giants AT&T Inc and Verizon Communications Inc are seeking more details related to their sharing of customer information with governments, showing investors starting to push back over the role of communications companies in spying operations. Activists including Trillium Asset Management of Boston and the $161 billion …
Shareholders Ask Verizon and AT&T to Report on Government Requests for Customer Information
BOSTON, MA // NOVEMBER 20, 2013: Adding the investor voice to the government surveillance debate, shareholders of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) filed shareholder proposals calling on the companies to publish semi-annual reports detailing how often they have shared information with U.S. or foreign governments and what type of customer information has been shared. These proposals bring the discussion squarely in front of corporate management and boards of directors. Global concern over U.S. government surveillance programs has provoked international press coverage as well as U.S. Congressional and European legislative hearings, and widespread calls for reform. Trillium …
Justice Comes Slowly for Residents of Mossville, LA
By Susan Baker, Vice-President, Shareholder Advocacy and Corporate Engagement “We finally got what we have been asking for!” exclaimed Dorothy Felix, President of Mossville Environmental Action Now (MEAN) when we spoke by phone in mid-July. Dorothy had just returned from a meeting with Mike Hayes, who is the Corporate Affairs Manager for the multinational chemical company Sasol North America. At the meeting, Mr. Hayes shared the news, hours ahead of the company’s press release, that Sasol will be offering all Mossville, Louisiana residents relocation assistance in advance of a major plant expansion. With a $21 billion price tag, Sasol is …
SocialFunds.com: As Fossil Fuel Divestment Grows, Cleantech Offers Opportunities for Investors
SocialFunds.com, which bills itself as “the largest personal finance site devoted to socially responsible investing”, is publishing a three-part series on the growing fossil fuel divestment campaign. In the second article in the series, Robert Kropp writes: “A divestment guide published by 350.org, Green Century Capital Management, and Trillium Asset Management outlines steps for investors to take to ensure their portfolios are fossil [fuel] free. But as the guide points out, divestment is only the first step for investors. Environmental and financial opportunities present as well for those who reinvest in companies providing goods and services that contribute to reducing …
VIDEO: 2013 Opportunity Finance Network Conference Opening Plenary – Expanding the Capital Marketplace for All CDFIs
Trillium’s Randy Rice was, along with Bill Bynum, President, Hope Enterprise Corporation and Cathy Dolan, Chief Operating Officer, Opportunity Finance Network, a panelist for the opening plenary at Opportunity Finance Network’s 2013 conference: The Bond and Beyond: Expanding the Capital Marketplace for All CDFIs. Moderated by Jeremy Nowak, the panel explored how to work toward a world in which all Comunity Development Financial Institutionss — big and small, rural and urban, serving business and housing and every sector in between— have reliable access to the capital that fits their missions and purposes. The interactive panel also discussed strategies about how …
Wall Street Journal: Taking Corporate Sustainability Reporting to the Next Level
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about the investor push for more standardized sustainability reporting. Emily Chasan writes: “…As an analyst ‘your motto is question everything,’ said Seth Magaziner, a research analyst at sustainable investment manager Trillium Asset Management in Boston. He told the conference he often checks how nonfinancial metrics are reported and measured, whether a company uses standard methodologies, and whether it seeks verification from third-parties. For example, when modeling climate change scenarios for the company’s energy investments, he says his models work better if companies are specific about what legal jurisdictions their oil and gas …
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