Voting Your Values with As You Vote
September 29, 2022
1 PM ET
Join us for a brief presentation on a new ESG aligned proxy voting service -- As You Vote, to hear examples of colleges and universities currently using the service and the impact they're having through their votes, and to ask questions and engage in conversation on next steps.
Shareholder voting is underutilized among higher education endowments, despite the fact that it is a viable way to make an impact. Proxy voting allows investors to influence corporate policy on a host of issues, including racial equity, climate justice, CEO pay, gender equality, and political spending.
To raise awareness around the importance of proxy voting and encourage it among endowments, the Intentional Endowments Network has partnered with As You Sow, Confluence Philanthropy, and Broadridge to launch As You Vote. As You Vote is a rules-based ESG proxy voting system hosted on Broadridge’s ProxyEdge platform.
Join Andrew Behar, Ben Linthicum, Daniel Stewart, Jaylen Spann, and Nico McCrossan to explore how the platform works and hear Linthicum, McCrossan and Spann illustrate use cases for endowments, foundations, and other asset owners looking to vote their values.
Recording:
View the Slides
For more information on As You Vote, please refer to the following presentation:
Speakers:
Andrew Behar, CEO, As You Sow
Ben Linthicum, ESG Advisory Committee Chair, Warren Wilson College
Daniel Stewart, Energy & Climate Program Manager, As You Sow
Jaylen Spann, Head of Research and Development, Whistle Stop Capital
Nico McCrossan, ESG Analyst, ASU Enterprise Partners
Calvert Research and Management
Calvert Research and Management (Calvert) is a global leader in responsible investing. Calvert manages one of the largest and most diversified suites of responsibly invested strategies, encompassing active and passively managed equity, income, alternative and multi-asset approaches. With roots in responsible investing dating back to 1982, the firm seeks to generate competitive investment returns for clients by allocating capital consistent with environmental, social and governance best practices and through structured engagement. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Calvert manages assets on behalf of funds, individuals, and institutional separate account clients.
Resources from Calvert:
- Evaluating the Glass Ceiling: Understanding and Unlocking the Value in Gender Equity l Calvert Research and Management, June 2019
Engaging Investment Managers on Proxy Voting & Other Forms of Shareholder Engagement
The Intentional Endowments Network's "Engaging Investment Managers on Proxy Voting & Other Forms of Shareholder Engagement" document outlines potential questions for investment managers on their proxy voting and other shareholder engagement activities around ESG. To signal your endowment’s commitment to sustainability, your institution can share a list of questions, such as the one provided below, with both managers and advisors. Sharing your questions and interest in writing at the beginning of the dialogue will allow your managers and advisors an opportunity to prepare for an informed conversation on engagement.
Click here to access the "Engaging Investment Managers on Proxy Voting & Other Forms of Shareholder Engagement" document.
Thanks to the following IEN members for their input and feedback during the development of this document:
- Sarah Cleveland, Principal, Sarah Cleveland Consulting
- Alice DonnaSelva, Investment Consultant, Prime Buchholz
- Keith L. Johnson, Chairman, Reinhart Boarner Van Deuren
- Tom Mitchell, Managing Director, Cambridge Associates
- Jameela Pedicini, Director, Asset Management, Perella Weinberg Partners
Webinar: Introduction to Proxy Voting
Proxy voting can be a powerful tool for improving corporate performance on social and environmental sustainability issues to enhance long-term value. Increasingly, stakeholders are calling for endowments to be more active owners, and many argue that doing so is a responsibility of fiduciaries.
This webinar (from July 13th, 2016) provides a basic overview of proxy voting, including:
- A recap of the 2016 proxy season (what were the big issues and results?)
- Mechanics of how to vote proxies (how do we do it?)
- Effectiveness of proxy voting (what impact does it have on companies and society?)
- Proxy voting by external managers (how can we have a say in proxy voting if we don’t own the shares directly?)
- Resources required for proxy voting (how much time and money will it require to do this?)
- Moderator: Sonal Mahida, Director, Intentional Endowments Network
- Heidi Welsh, Executive Director, Sustainable Investments Institute
- Laura Campos, Director of Shareholder Activities, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Heidi Welsh, Executive Director, Sustainable Investments Institute
Heidi Welsh, Executive Director of the Sustainable Investments Institute, oversees Si2’s impartial, in-depth research about proxy season and corporate responsibility issues for institutional investors, including some of the largest North American pension funds and leading colleges and universities. In addition, she was the lead author on two studies about the corporate governance of political spending in the S&P 500 published with the IRRC Institute. Previously, Welsh worked at the Investor Responsibility Research Center and for 16 years ran a monitoring program on corporate fair employment practices in Northern Ireland, while also analyzing shareholder proposals. She co-authored the 2007 Carbon Disclosure Project report on the S&P 500 and set up a global sustainability metrics project for RiskMetrics analyzing 1,800 of the world’s biggest companies. She holds a B.A. from Carleton College, cum laude, and an M.S. from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.
Laura Campos, Director of Shareholder Activities, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Ms. Campos has more than a decade of experience engaging public corporations on topics ranging from climate change to executive compensation. As the director of shareholder activities for the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Laura is active in numerous outside groups and shareholder coalitions focusing on responsible investment practices, including the Investor Network on Climate Risk and the Principles for Responsible Investment. She serves on the Principles for Responsible Investment’s Small and Resource-Constrained Funds Steering Committee and is a member of the Advisory Board of ProxyDemocracy. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and The International Business Times, among others.
Prior experience includes serving as a Financial Advisor Associate at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Laura has also worked on projects for the Arcus Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation and Christian Aid.
Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the College of Wooster and an MSc, Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Sonal Mahida, Director, Intentional Endowments Network
Sonal Mahida comes to IEN with over 15 years of experience in the field. During her career Sonal has worked on ESG investing and sustainability issues at institutional investors, S&P 500, Fortune 500 companies, as well as non-profits.
As Head of North America for the UN Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), she developed and led initiatives to aid U.S. and Canadian investors in the practice and implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration and risk management. Prior to joining PRI, Sonal worked on corporate sustainability at Hess. Previously, she was Vice President of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), where she managed the organization’s US activities and was a Senior Governance Analyst at TIAA-CREF, where she led ESG dialogues and engagements with portfolio companies, as well as proxy voting analysis. Sonal is a frequent speaker at investment conferences. She has been a guest on Bloomberg MarketMakers and her work has been covered in in Forbes, Greenbiz, and industry publications.
Sonal holds a B.A. from Barnard College, Columbia University and an M.B.A. in Finance from Boston University's School of Management
The Missing 60%: ExxonMobil, Forceful Stewardship and the 2°C Business Model Imperative
The Missing 60%: ExxonMobil, Forceful Stewardship and the 2°C Business Model Imperative l Huffpost Green
by Bill Baue, June 2, 2016
The Spring 2016 proxy votes supporting the 2°C stress test resolutions at last week’s Annual General Meetings of ExxonMobil (38.2%) and Chevron (41%) give cause for both celebration - and concern. These votes suggest that key asset managers are recognizing (and others seem to be willfully ignoring) climate risk inherent in the business-as-usual practices of the largest U.S. oil and gas corporations and their downstream value chains.
The Exxon Annual Meeting: Written by the First Ever Students to File a Shareholder Resolution
The Exxon Annual Meeting: Written by the First Ever Students to File a Shareholder Resolution l Dwight Hall Socially Responsible Investing group
by dhsri, June 2, 2016
Although our expectations were tempered, we arrived in Dallas last Wednesday with the belief that Exxon’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting would offer some dialogue between investors and Exxon’s CEO, Rex Tillerson. We hoped that Tillerson would truly consider and engage with shareholders’ ideas and questions. Our hopes were not met.
Sustainable Finance: News, Analysis, Commentary May 26, 2016
Sustainable Finance: News, Analysis, Commentary l Bloomberg Brief
May 26, 2016
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GREEN BONDS: Investors expect more automakers to tap the green bond market. Led by the financial arms of Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co., companies have raised $2.5 billion so far in 2016 from green bonds to finance electric and hybrid vehicles.
OIL: Climate change proposals didn't get majority support from shareholders at Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. annual meetings on Wednesday. But two proposals got closer than ever to crossing the finish.
Q&A: Wealth advisers should consider social implications of investments, David Lynch, president and deputy chief investment officer at $5.9 billion asset manager Athena Capital Advisors says.
ALSO INSIDE: San Francisco issues a green bond for water infrastructure; Gender diversity yields higher stock market returns and less volatility according to a Morgan Stanley analysis; Clean energy jobs surpassed oil drilling jobs in the U.S. for the first time; Norway's sovereign wealth fund faces wider coal ban; Countries with lower credit ratings are seen more vulnerable to climate change.
Exxon And Chevron Shareholders Vote Down Proposals On Climate Risk Outlook, Despite Strong Support
Exxon And Chevron Shareholders Vote Down Proposals On Climate Risk Outlook, Despite Strong Support l International Business Times
- Exxon Mobil and Chevron shareholders shot down proposals at annual meetings Wednesday that would have required the companies to outline how they planned to adjust in a world battling cataclysmic climate change.
Oil Giants In A Changing Climate
Oil Giants In A Changing Climate l On Point with Tom Ashbrook
May 25, 2016
- How will the oil giants do business in the climate change future? Shareholders at Exxon, Chevron and more want to hear their plans. So do we.
Exxon, Chevron Face Unprecedented Investor Pressure Over Climate Change Disclosure
Exxon, Chevron Face Unprecedented Investor Pressure Over Climate Change Disclosure l International Business Times
by Owen Davis, May 24, 2016
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Climate-conscious investors are preparing to deliver two top U.S. energy companies an unprecedented rebuke at annual shareholder meetings Wednesday.
A month after world leaders came together to sign the historic Paris Agreement, cementing a promise to keep the Earth from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius, a record number of shareholder groups have backed proposals that would require Exxon Mobil and Chevron to say how they would adjust to that reality.