The Many Dimensions of Shareholder Advocacy
What is shareholder advocacy? Shareholder advocacy is top of mind for investors when evaluating an authentic ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investment strategy. In addition to embedding ESG considerations into the research and investment process, a complete ESG-integrated investment approach calls for thoughtful, effective, and sustained shareholder advocacy. This critical, multi-dimensional set of tasks activates [...]
Investor Impact Update (2022-4Q)
In the closing months of 2022, our women leaders continued to honor our heritage as a women-owned and women led business. President & Founder, Geeta Aiyer, was recognized by both the Alnoba Lewis Family Foundation and entrepreneurial organization, TiE Boston, with an Environmental Leadership Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award, respectively, and CEO Ally [...]
Activating Engagement in Asia
By Lauren Compere, Head of Stewardship & Engagement During the autumn of 2022, I had the opportunity to travel to Asia for the first time in three years, visiting Japan and Korea to continue Boston Common’s ongoing shareowner engagement work in person. Over several days, I joined an ICGN1 investor delegation, met with Japanese regulators, [...]
Boston Common’s Open Letter to European Representatives
Investor Call to Action - Ensuring a gender-responsive Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) Following the release of the EU Council's position last week, which included no mention of gender, Boston Common sent an open letter to European representatives calling on policymakers to address gender in the new Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence, and to ensure [...]
Gun Violence and Hate are Not Political Issues
By Ally McDonald & Kevin Hart The seven days before the long holiday weekend in the US saw ten mass shootings that injured 49 people and took the lives of 25 others who would not celebrate another Thanksgiving. At the time of writing, you can add nine more mass shootings and eight deaths to the [...]
Access to Nutrition
Lauren Compere, Head of Stewardship & Engagement, Boston Common Asset Management Over the last several years, I have watched the Access to Nutrition Foundation evolve from its first Indexes in 2013 to see support for ATNI grow today to over 80 investors with close to $20 trillion in AUM. I helped initiate the first investor [...]
Eco-Efficiency: Transforming Opportunity into Reality
Steven Heim, Director of ESG Research October 5, 2022 Today, we celebrate the 7th annual Energy Efficiency Day (EE Day) by joining over 1,000 regional and national businesses, utilities, universities, and individuals in promoting energy efficiency – the cheapest, quickest avenue for meeting energy needs, cutting utility bills, and reducing pollution. Energy efficiency is vital [...]
Active Investor Impact Update – Q3 2022
We release this quarter's Active Investor Impact Update as we celebrate the honor of being named a "Best for the World" B Corp for the 5th consecutive time. All of us at Boston Common are proud to meet the high standards of accountability, transparency, and performance on the variety of factors that are required [...]
How Investors Can Support Prioritizing Gender
Investors committed to respecting human rights have welcomed the EU’s Sustainable Corporate Governance Initiative, in particular the legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.
Active Investor Impact Update – Q2 2022
As we reflect on Boston Common's Q2 2022 engagement impacts, we are also celebrating last year's efforts with our 6th annual Impact Report released earlier this month. Highlighting our engagement efforts in 2021, the report demonstrates our authentic approach to addressing urgent systemic issues where we see opportunities to generate positive impacts. At the start of 2022, [...]