NorthStar’s letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal was published in response to criticism that political disclosure would inhibit free speech. View the letter below or click the link above for the full text of the article.

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. Embodied in the same Supreme Court decision regarding the Citizens United case is Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority statement calling on shareholders to raise objections “through the procedures of corporate democracy.”

Mr. Smith states that NorthStar claims “that their proposed restrictions on corporate political activity will actually increase value.” Yet he also suggests that NorthStar lacks concern for the long-term sustainability and financial viability of our investments retaining “just enough shares to engage in corporate activism . . . they advise their own clients to limit their financial exposure to companies that might actually follow their recommendations.” Neither of these statements is accurate. The issue that NorthStar has consistently raised is that there is risk to shareholder value engendered by firms that violate their own published business policies with incongruent electioneering choices.

Mr. Smith falsely claims that NorthStar’s activism has included efforts to restrict corporate behavior.