2017 Second Quarter Commentary

Would you like your vote counted?  Proxy voting is the method by which we as shareholders, who cannot physically attend the corporation’s annual meeting, instruct how to vote our shares.

In addition to electing board members, recent issues on corporate proxy ballots include executive pay, corporate lobbying, human rights and climate change reporting.  The first is less of an issue for us, because I don’t invest in companies that pay their managements outrageously.

​A stunning event occurred in May for Exxon’s management.  A majority of shareholders voted for the company to report on the impact of climate change and how regulations restricting carbon emissions would affect the company’s business in the future.

Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest investment group BlackRock, in his annual letter this year to global CEOs wrote that managing investments according to non-financial concerns can provide “essential insights into management effectiveness and thus a company’s long-term prospects.”  BlackRock now operates an entire division aptly named Impact, joining almost $9 trillion in the U.S. managed according to at least one factor of corporate responsibility.

​The big names have moved into a field pioneered by smaller independents, yours truly included.

We all can do our part.  To improve the behavior of corporations, write your elected representatives, pen letters to the editor, respond to government’s requests for public comment, demonstrate in the public square, shop as an informed consumer and vote your values.  I’ll continue to vote those proxies.