Who We Are
Corporate obsession with maximizing short-term returns has created an unsustainable and unjust economy. But institutional investors and everyday shareholders have the power to hold corporations accountable.
Our campaigns expose problematic corporate governance and behavior, catalyze investor and public action, and confront the minority who make corporate abuses possible to defend the long-term financial, environmental and social interests of the majority.
What’s New
Equity in the Boardroom
Equity in the Boardroom: 2023 Proxy Season
Report — February 2024. Besides being a moral failing, racial inequity poses idiosyncratic and systemic risks that depress returns for long-term diversified investors. Fiduciaries must adopt a racial equity lens to proxy voting in order to effectively mitigate these risks. Equity in the Boardroom analyzes how the 18 largest asset managers and two leading proxy advisors voted/recommended on key racial equity-related issues during the 2023 proxy season. Asset managers’ support for racial equity-related proxy votes slowed considerably against the backdrop of coordinated right-wing attacks on civil rights, affirmative action, and voting rights, and the related politicization of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment strategies. Asset managers’ inaction on systemic racism comes at the expense of not only communities of color who bear the brunt of harmful corporate behaviors, but also the tens of millions of workers – many of whom are people of color themselves – with retirement accounts, health savings accounts, and college savings accounts. Against current political headwinds, asset managers must rise to the occasion and use their proxy voting power to address systemic racism – consistent with their fiduciary duty to minimize risk, protect the value of client assets, and fortify long-term investment returns.