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Alphabet Shareholders Overwhelmingly Support Move to Equal Voting
At Alphabet, Inc.’s most recent annual meeting on June 7, 2017, class A shareholders overwhelmingly supported a shareholder proposal asking company management to recapitalize the share structure so that each share has one vote. According to the proponents of the proposal, assuming that all outstanding class B shares were similarly voted, then up to 99.8% of class A shareholders supported the proposal.
Two More Water Utilities Commit to the Human Right to Water
After engagement with shareholders, two California-based water utilities, California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) and American States Water (NYSE: AWR), have adopted policies confirming a commitment to support the human right to water (HRTW).
Investors push corporate boards to add women, people of color (Chicago Tribune/Bloomberg; 3/2/17)
NorthStar’s own Ivy Jack (Head of Equity Research) and Mari Schwartzer (Assistant Director of Shareholder Activism, Engagement, and Social Research) were quoted in a Bloomberg article that was also reprinted to the Chicago Tribune as well regarding the push for board diversity in the United States, including NorthStar’s significant advocacy work in this area.
Shareholders Ask P&G to Protect LGBT Employees from State-Promoted Discrimination
At the Procter & Gamble (P&G) annual shareholder meeting to be held on Tuesday, October 11th, stockholders will ask P&G how it plans to defend the company’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) employees and their families against discrimination and harassment that is encouraged or enabled by new legislation in several states in the U.S., such as North Carolina’s infamous “bathroom bill.” Click through to read more.
Shareholders Ask FedEx to Protect LGBT Employees from State-Promoted Discrimination
MEMPHIS, TN -- At the upcoming FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) annual shareholder meeting (September 26, 2016), stockholders are asking for details about strategies that FedEx will deploy to defend the company’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) employees...
Facebook Investors Back Return of Board, New Non-Voting Shares (Bloomberg 6/20/16)
NorthStar was quoted following a Facebook annual meeting. Read more here.
Facebook shareholder calls for change in share structure (FT.com; 6/7/16)
Financial Times featured NorthStar's shareholder proposal at Facebook this year in a recent article. Read it here.
NorthStar Asset Management Cements the Value of Diversity with IDEXX Labs
Today NorthStar announced successful negotiations with IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) regarding proxy booklet disclosures explicitly describing the company’s focus on the diversity of the Board of Directors and senior management.
NorthStar Asset Management Announces Certification as B Corporation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Boston, MA - NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a Boston-based socially responsible investment firm, announced today that it has become a Certified B Corporation™ (B Corp) through B Lab, a nonprofit organization that empowers “a global movement of...
The rise of the CEO social activist (CNBC/April 20, 2016)
CNBC interviewed NorthStar's Julie Goodridge about our shareholder proposal at FedEx asking the company to take a stand against state-sponsored discrimination like North Carolina's infamous House Bill 2. In the article, Julie is quoted as stating that "A CEO's most...
5 Ways to Invest in LGBT Rights for Great Returns (U.S. News Money; 10/28/15)
Viewing investment decisions through an LGBT lens can pay off. An expanding body of evidence indicates that what’s good for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees is also good for investors. Analysts say companies that take the high road regarding sexual orientation tend to be progressive and thoughtful about other aspects of management as well.
What’s happening at Facebook’s shareholder meeting (CNBC; 6/11/15)
Is Facebook’s dual-class stock structure—which essentially secures CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s control of the company—good or bad for investors?
That will be the top question as Facebook kicks off its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday in Santa Clara, California.
Why a shareholder is fighting a battle to revamp Facebook’s share structure that she admits she can’t win (Business Insider; 5/5/15)
Dual class share structures, which ensure that a small group of company insiders have majority voting control, are all the rage among Internet companies. Facebook does it, Google does it (actually Google has three classes of shares), and LinkedIn does it.
But one small but vocal shareholder says it’s time for the practice to end.
Investor Urges Facebook to Eliminate Supervoting Stock (Wall Street Journal; 5/4/15)
A Facebook Inc. investor urged the social network to eliminate its supervoting stock, which would diminish Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s control of the company.
In a securities filing Monday, NorthStar Asset Management Inc. Funded Pension Plan backed a shareholder proposal that would prod Facebook to give all shares a single vote.
Tracking the Impact of Public Equity Investing (CSRwire; 11/18/14)
Over the last decade, investors have become increasingly concerned with the environmental and social impact of their investments across asset classes. Given the large social and environmental footprints of publicly traded corporations, and the persistently high allocation to public equities in most investor portfolios, public equity investing presents a major opportunity for impact investing. Yet impact investing, as currently practiced, concentrates primarily on small-scale direct investments in private equity and debt. Many investors perceive that social and environmental impact can be more readily observed there than in publicly traded companies, where ownership is intermediated, diluted, and diffused through secondary capital markets.
The growing case for diversity as a profit source (CNBC; 4/23/14)
What does the Bay of Pigs have to do with lack of diversity in boardrooms—a situation in corporate America that Morgan Stanley CFO Ruth Porat recently described as an “embarrassment”?
More than you might think.
Intel Becomes First Company to Commit to Political Giving Alignment Review
After fruitful negotiations with NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a Boston-based wealth management firm, Intel Corporation will become the first U.S. corporation to commit to reviewing its political contributions for congruence with its company policies (such as the Intel Code of Conduct, Environmental, Health, & Safety Policy, Climate Change Policy, and Water Policy). NorthStar began this engagement with Intel last fall with the filing of a shareholder proposal on behalf of its pension plan, in which the firm conveyed its concern for potential misalignments between what Intel stands for and how the corporation spends its political giving dollars.
Political Disclosure Won’t Inhibit Corporate Speech (Wall Street Journal: 11/23/11)
Mr. Smith’s claim that NorthStar Asset Management is trying “to persuade corporations to voluntarily surrender their First Amendment rights” is mistaken. This is not and has never been NorthStar’s position. NorthStar shareholder proposals asking companies to provide shareowners with a nonbinding vote on corporate political spending is an exercise of our right, as owners of the company, to hold corporations accountable for political spending decisions.
Shareholders Vote on Political Spending
Citing concerns about the risks to Procter & Gamble’s brand, reputation, and shareholder value, NorthStar Asset Management Pension Plan is asking shareholders to weigh in on P&G political spending at the annual meeting on October 11.
Home Depot: Let the Shareholders Vote
On June 2nd, Home Depot shareholders will vote on a shareholder resolution brought by NorthStar Asset Management, Inc, a Boston-based socially responsible investment firm, to allow shareholders a say on political contributions made by their company, a direct response to the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the United States Supreme Court.
Citizens United: The Shareholders Strike Back (Mother Jones: 6/1/11)
The battle against the effects of the Supreme Court’s game-changing Citizens United decision, the ruling that ripped down the wall between corporations and American elections, is gathering steam among an unlikely group: investors. With Congress unable to pass new legislation and the Obama administration so far unwilling to fix the dysfunctional Federal Election Commission, it’s corporate shareholders who are increasingly on the front lines of the effort to foist accountability on the new Wild West of political spending.
The Supreme Court Had Its Say. Now Let Shareholders Decide. (New York Times: 5/14/11)
Should Home Depot’s board report each year on the company’s political policies and spending? In a groundbreaking vote at the company’s June 2 annual meeting, Home Depot’s shareholders will have the chance to vote on a nonbinding resolution of support for the company’s policies on, and future plans for, political contributions.
Home Depot Releases Proxy Statement on Electioneering Contributions (4/20/11)
Home Depot has released their annual proxy including a resolution calling for a shareholder vote requesting that political contributions reflect Home Depot’s stated corporate values. The resolution, filed by NorthStar Asset Management, Inc. of Boston, was filed in the aftermath of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the controversial Supreme Court decision in January of 2010 that removed prohibitions on corporate electioneering contributions.
FedEx Delivers LGBT Benefits (5/27/10)
After seven months of dialogue with FedEx Corporation, NorthStar Asset Management, Inc. is pleased to report that FedEx has committed to extending health benefits to domestic partners of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees in every state. Prompted by a discrepancy between FedEx’s comprehensive non-discrimination policy and the Company’s benefits packages, NorthStar filed a shareholder resolution with FedEx in April of this year asking that equal benefits be extended to partners and families of LGBT senior executives.
Intel Inside, Safe Water Outside: Intel Recognizes the Human Right to Water
On the eve of World Water Day (March 22), Boston portfolio management company NorthStar Asset Management, Inc. is pleased to announce successful negotiations with Intel Corporation on the creation of an official Intel policy that supports the human right to water. Intel Corp. is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of semiconductor chips, the creation of which requires the ongoing use of large amounts of water.
PepsiCo Agrees that Access to Water is a Human Right (3/26/09)
NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a socially responsible investment firm, is pleased to announce successful negotiations with PepsiCo, worldwide food and beverage manufacturer, of an official PepsiCo policy in support of the human right to water. PepsiCo is the first publicly traded, multinational corporation to create such a policy.
Shareholder Activists Challenge PepsiCo On Human Right to Water (5/1/08)
In the face of increasingly alarming statistics about the global availability of clean drinking water, PepsiCo shareholders and human rights activists have teamed up to demand that PepsiCo create and follow a policy that respects the Human Right to Water.
“Water scarcity is a serious modern-day reality,” says Julie Goodridge, CEO of NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a wealth management firm based in Boston.