ESG Archive

ESG

Off-season engagement continues to rise, says ESG adviser

Jan 02, 2020
Ben Ashwell
Off-season engagement continues to rise, says ESG adviser
The number of requests that institutional investors receive for meetings outside of proxy season continues to rise, as IR, legal and sustainability teams are encouraged to work together on off-season ESG engagement. Speaking to IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary at the ESG Integration Forum – US 2019 in December, Daniel Oh said the institutional investors he talked to in December were receiving unprecedented levels of issuer outreach before the holidays....
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ESG

Korn Ferry counsel discusses the firm’s proxy statement nomination

Dec 30, 2019
Ben Ashwell
Korn Ferry counsel discusses the firm’s proxy statement nomination
Korn Ferry was nominated for the best proxy statement (mid-cap) award at the recent Corporate Governance Awards, having won the category three years ago. Speaking to Corporate Secretary at the awards, Lynn Wolters, associate counsel with the firm, said that ‘it’s a great honor’ to be nominated in the year that Korn Ferry celebrates its 50th anniversary. ...
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ESG

Issuers look to own ESG story, in spite of raters and rankers

Dec 18, 2019
Ben Ashwell
Issuers look to own ESG story, in spite of raters and rankers
Companies are grappling with how much time to spend on their own ESG reporting compared with completing surveys and engaging with ESG ratings agencies, according to speakers at the recent ESG Integration Forum, held earlier this month. Christina Wong, director at SustainAbility, an ERM Group company, started the ESG Integration Forum by presenting some preliminary findings from the company’s research. This data suggested that while investors subscribe to third-par...
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ESG

HPE’s governance lead discusses launch of Center of Excellence for Corporate Governance

Dec 18, 2019
Ben Ashwell
HPE’s governance lead discusses launch of Center of Excellence for Corporate Governance
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) launched an internal Center of Excellence for Corporate Governance earlier this year to initiate a deeper understanding of the importance of governance. Speaking to Corporate Secretary at the Corporate Governance Awards, Derek Windham, the company’s vice president and associate general counsel, explained that the governance team has had crucial support from senior management and the board.   ...
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ESG

Small caps lag in adding women to boards

Dec 13, 2019
Tim Human
Small caps lag in adding women to boards
US small-cap companies are lagging their larger peers in adding female directors to boards, according to research by the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).  Between 2017 and 2019, companies with a market cap between $300 mn and $2 bn saw the percentage of women on their board rise from 13 percent to 17 percent, finds the research, which was carried out in partnership with Main Data Group. Over the same time period, the Russell 3000 index –...
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ESG

More than 100 companies using SASB standards

Dec 12, 2019
Ben Ashwell
More than 100 companies using SASB standards
It’s been one year since the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) launched its 77 industry-specific reporting standards, and the non-profit says 120 companies are now using the standards in their ESG reporting. SASB launched its standards in November 2018, having worked with a large investor advisory group since 2011 to determine the material ESG factor...
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ESG

Many investors link ESG to fiduciary responsibility, SSGA finds

Nov 26, 2019
Mike Schnitzel
Many investors link ESG to fiduciary responsibility, SSGA finds
Almost half (46 percent) of investors surveyed by State Street Global Advisors (SSGA) believe considering ESG is part of their fiduciary duty, according to a new report from the asset manager. Rakhi Kumar, head of ESG investments and asset stewardship at SSGA, says investor perception of ESG as a fiduciary duty is a positive step, but presents challenges. ‘We’ve seen how ESG started from an SRI perspective,’ she says. ‘Now it’s going mainstream because itâ...
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ESG

From trend to action: Highlights from the ESG Integration Forum – Europe

Nov 22, 2019
Tim Human
From trend to action: Highlights from the ESG Integration Forum – Europe
With investor attention on ESG issues at an all-time high, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary recently brought together all sides of the investment world for the ESG Integration Forum – Europe. Held in London, the forum offered governance and investor relations professionals the chance to get up to speed on how the buy side, sell side and ratings agencies are incorporating ESG issues into their work. It also provided advice and case stud...
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ESG

What to look out for during 2020 proxy season

Nov 21, 2019
Ben Maiden
What to look out for during 2020 proxy season
Industry professionals in the US foresee no turning around from the direction companies and investors have been headed in recent years, with a growing number of shareholder proposals in 2020 on issues under the ESG umbrella. In terms of which proposals end up in votes at AGMs, there is an expectation that the trend toward negotiating the withdrawal of many environmental and other disclosure-based proposals will continue, but also concern about a new SEC approach to decidin...
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