Guardian Sustainable Business: Privacy and Data Security: Why Should Investors Care?
On Tuesday, May 28, 2013, the Guardian Sustainable Business printed an Op-ed which is co-authored by Trillium’s Natasha Lamb, Corey Johnson of Pax World Funds and Michael Connor, the Executive Director of Open MIC, a non-profit organization that works with companies and investors on open media issues. The authors note: “…While privacy is vital to consumers, ensuring proper data management is also critical to investors in publicly-held US companies. Our research shows that even the largest and most sophisticated enterprises may not be adequately prepared to deal with these challenges. The Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted the importance of the …
Diverse Coalition of Global Investors Managing More Than $1.5 Trillion Calls for Systemic Reforms to End Human Rights Abuses in Apparel Supply Chains
INTERFAITH CENTER ON CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE As a First Step, Investors Urge Manufacturers and Retailers to Join the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety NEW YORK, Wednesday, May 22, 2013 – Concerned that human rights catastrophes like the April 24 collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh might recur if sweeping reforms aren’t promptly implemented, a global coalition of institutional investors are calling on apparel manufacturers and retailers to join the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. The investor group includes nearly 200 signatories from 16 countries in North America, Europe and Australia with combined assets valued …
Businessweek: Religious Groups Urge Brands to Address Bangladesh Plant Safety
Bloomberg Businessweek’s Lindsey Rupp writes: “Investors including Trillium Asset Management, U.S. pension funds and religious groups are putting additional pressure on retailers with suppliers in Bangladesh to disclose and improve safety in factories. One group has written to retailers asking them to commit to an international safety agreement that’s supported by labor monitoring groups and signed by 37 brands. In a separate letter, investors including public pension funds are urging companies to know and make public their suppliers and to ensure compliance with safety standards. A letter drafted by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a coalition of faith-based investors …
Investor Statement on Bangladesh
May 16, 2013: In light of a series of recent calamities in Bangladesh apparel manufacturing plants resulting in an overwhelming loss of life, we, the undersigned investors and stakeholders including 123 organizations representing over $1.2 trillion in assets under management, are calling on industry leaders to implement systemic reforms that will ensure worker safety and welfare, and to adopt zero tolerance policies on global supply chain abuses. The November fire in the Tazreen garment factory, the collapse in April of the Rana Plaza, and a second deadly fire on May 8th in a sweater factory in Dhaka have resulted in …
Information for Current Men’s Wearhouse Shareholders Regarding Trillium’s 2013 Shareholder Proposal
On behalf of our clients, Trillium Asset Management filed a 2013 shareholder resolution with Men’s Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) which asks the Company’s Board of Directors to: “issue an annual sustainability report describing The Men’s Wearhouse’s short- and long-term responses to ESG-related issues. The report should include, where feasible, objective statistical indicators and goals relating to each issue, be prepared at a reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information and be made available by December 15, 2013”. The resolution appears on page 27 of the Company’s 2013 proxy materials and is opposed by management. You can find more information and read Trillium’s rationale …
SJF Ventures Raises $90MM Third Fund, Tripling Size of Previous Fund
DURHAM, N.C., NEW YORK, and SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2013: SJF Ventures conducted the final closing on its third fund with more than $90MM in capital commitments, tripling the size of the previous $28MM second fund. The target for SJF Ventures III was $75MM and the fund was substantially oversubscribed at its final April closing. “We are honored that so many investors choose to join our partnership,” said David Kirkpatrick, SJF Managing Director and Co-Founder. “We are particularly excited that a wide variety of bank, insurance, foundation, family office, pension, mutual fund, and individual investors have recognized that SJF’s impact …
Open Internet Proposal at Verizon Wins 24.1% of Shareholder Votes
NEW YORK, NY // May 2, 2013: About one-quarter of all Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) shareholder votes were cast in favor of a proposal that asks the company to report on business risks from Verizon’s controversial FCC lawsuit and other actions to oppose open Internet and network neutrality principles. Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally and that Internet providers cannot block, speed up or slow down content for any reason. While Verizon has expressed its commitment to supporting an open Internet, it is currently the lead party in a lawsuit opposing the FCC’s …
Phil Angelides, a Leader in Shareholder Activism and Green Investment, Wins 2013 Joan Bavaria Award
SAN FRANCISCO, CA // May 1, 2013 – Phil Angelides has been awarded the fifth-annual Joan Bavaria Award for Building Sustainability into the Capital Markets. The announcement was made today, the first day of the annual Ceres Conference, which is running May 1-2 at The Fairmont in San Francisco, CA. Angelides is currently President of Riverview Capital Investments, a real estate investment firm which focuses on clean energy projects and sustainable urban development. From 1999 to 2007, he served as California’s State Treasurer. During his eight years in elected office, Angelides called for a renewed push in shareholder activism and …
CNBC: Citigroup Meeting – What a Difference a Year Makes
On April 24, 2013, CNBC published a story about Citigroup’s (NYSE: C) annual shareholder meeting. Kayla Tausche writes: “…The bulk of Wednesday’s questioning concerned not just the current turnaround, but also the well-telegraphed idea that Citigroup, ultimately, could get drastically smaller, or even break up…Boston-based Trillium Asset Management, which owns $20 million in Citi stock, proposed in November that shareholders should get to vote on a company strategy to disclose more fully the sum-of-the-parts valuation of the bank, or pursue a more rigorous restructuring. The Securities and Exchange Commission nixed the proposal on the grounds of it being too vague. …
USA Today: Big Banks Wear Targets as Citi Shareholders Meet
On April 24th, 2013 USA Today published an article about Citigroup’s (NYSE: C) annual shareholder meeting and the shareholder proposal that Trillium Asset Management, on behalf of the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, along with the AFSCME Employees Pension Plan filed a with Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) filed, asking the company’s board of directors to explore a possible separation of one or more of its business units. Tim Mullaney writes: “On the surface, David Vitter and Seth Magaziner have little in common. But Wednesday each will take a step that may recast the future of America’s megabanks. Magaziner is a …
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