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Leading Social Investor Announces Shareholder Advocacy Program for 2007 Released, January 3, 2007
BOSTON, MA – January 3, 2007 - Walden Asset Management announced today its shareholder advocacy initiatives for 2007. On behalf of its clients, Walden is actively encouraging companies to improve performance on a range of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) issues. Companies being approached include: ExxonMobil on climate change, Home Depot on the disclosure of diversity metrics, Leggett & Platt on inclusive workplace employment policies, SYSCO on corporate social responsibility reporting, Wells Fargo on executive compensation, and Wrigley’s on vendor standards. Walden is engaged in on-going discussions with dozens of companies and has filed or co-filed 17 shareholder resolutions for 2007. Walden (www.waldenassetmgmt.com) is the socially responsive investment division of Boston Trust & Investment Management Company. Founded in 1975, and currently with $1.5 billion in assets under management, Walden is a pioneer in socially responsive portfolio management and shareholder advocacy on behalf of individual and institutional clients. Walden blends a disciplined investment style and expertise in social screening with a commitment to using its leverage as an investor to improve corporate performance on environmental, social and governance factors. “With an experienced investment team, a focus on high quality companies and tactical asset allocation strategies to manage risk across a range of economic outcomes, Walden’s approach seeks to achieve superior investment returns with lower than average risk. We consider a range of sustainability issues when assessing investment options.” stated William Apfel, Walden’s Director of Securities Research. Meredith Benton, a Research Associate at Walden, added “We are able to offer both socially screened and unscreened investment portfolios the opportunity to leverage share ownership to contribute to positive change.” Walden also assists clients in co-filing shareholder resolutions in their own names. More than two dozen Walden clients co-filed 28 resolutions for the 2007 proxy season, including the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, Needmor Fund, Pride Foundation and Tides Foundation. “Shareholder advocacy provides an additional return – the knowledge that one’s investments are acting as a force for positive social and environmental change.” added Timothy Smith, Walden’s Director of Socially Responsive Investing. Walden has a multi-pronged approach to company engagement. This includes proxy voting, filing shareholder resolutions, talking with management, and participating in public policy discussions. Representative initiatives for the 2006-2007 proxy season include: ENVIRONMENT Climate Change Apache, Chubb, Biomet, Comerica, Dover, ExxonMobil** Recycling Coca-Cola Co.*, PepsiCo* Water Management Clorox, Coca-Cola GLOBAL LABOR AND HUMAN RIGHTS Inclusive Nondiscrimination Policy ACXIOM, Commercial Metals*, ExxonMobil, Leggett & Platt*, Linear Technology, Spanish Broadcasting Disclosure of Diversity Metrics American Express, Goldman Sachs, Home Depot*, Lehman Brothers* Vendor Standards Applied Materials*, Claire' Stores, Hershey's*, Ross Stores, Target, TJX, Wrigley's* HIV/AIDS Policies, Programs and Reporting Colgate-Palmolive, Hewlett-Packard, Intel CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Coca-Cola Co., Colgate Palmolive, Pfizer**, Wells Fargo* Disclosure of Political Spending 3M*, BellSouth**, Caremark*, Dell, FedEx, Microsoft, Wells Fargo SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING AT&T, Comerica*, Dover*, Medtronic, Nike, Sunoco, SYSCO, Timberland [*Walden is the primary filer of this resolution, submitted for inclusion on 2007 proxy ballots.] [**Walden is co-filer of this resolution, submitted for inclusion on 2007 proxy ballots. Primary filers are: Dominican Sisters of Caldwell, NJ, The Christopher Reynolds Foundation, Domini Social Investments] Mr. Smith said, “This year we expect to see intense focus on the issue of executive compensation. Walden is taking a leading role on this issue and filing resolutions calling for shareholders to have an advisory role on compensation packages for top executives.” He elaborated, “Over 50 companies will receive these resolutions filed by a broad cross section of pension funds, investment managers, and religious investors.” Walden’s shareholder advocacy initiatives build on a number of successes in 2006. Of particular note are the significant advancements seen in companies developing sustainability reports. After discussions with Walden, AT&T developed its first sustainability report, and SYSCO and Chubb Corporation committed to producing their own corporate social responsibility reports in 2007. In addition, Walden has been pleased to see that Chubb is now actively considering how climate change impacts its business, both in existing and future policies. An extraordinary number of companies also either changed their employment non-discrimination policies to include sexual orientation, or confirmed that their policies are inclusive. These companies included: Apogee Enterprises, CenturyTel, Cincinnati Financial, Commerce Bancshares, Dentsply, Diebold, Emerson Electric, First Midwest, Myers Industries, Renaissance Learning, and Strayer Education. Also in 2006, Colgate Palmolive, with which Walden has had ongoing conversations relating to comprehensive HIV/AIDS programs, rolled out programs in Latin America and Central Europe, and expanded initiatives in other regions. Colgate’s program focuses on education, prevention, treatment, and local partnerships. In addition, TJX, working constructively with Walden and other investors, continued to advance its vendor compliance program. It expanded discussion of its supply chain monitoring on its website and agreed to continue discussions with investors on best practices in public reporting. Walden’s work encouraging TJX and other companies to develop robust human rights practices was honored on April 6, 2006, by American Rights at Work's Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Awards. |
