Business leaders and managers are being challenged by the rising expectations of stockholders and stakeholder with regard to the corporate performance in the areas of ESG (environmental, social issue and governance) performance. Peers and competitors are increasingly setting the pace for industries and sectors as they create and implement sustainability and corporate responsibility strategies and actions. Who cares about this? Asset owners and asset managers looking at investments through the ESG/Sustainability lens. And third party stakeholders who are setting the pace in ESG research, standard setting (for industries), media, issue advocates…and others watching the corporate sector. Our team is watching the watchers for you. We bring you news, commentary and research in key areas of interest for both investors and asset managers -- and for corporate boards, executives and managers. As Sustainability and ESG frameworks are adopted by more investors, the capital markets are determining winners, laggards and losers. Track the trends, the news, updates, the important developments – makeyour headquarters for ESG knowledge management. ESG / Sustainability
(Source: CBS News) Japan's government said the cost of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast could reach $309 billion, making it the world's costliest natural disaster on record. The extensive damage to housing, roads, utilities and businesses across seven prefectures (states) has resulted in losses of between 16 trillion yen ($198 billion) and 25 trillion yen ($309 billion), according to a Cabinet Office estimate Wednesday. That could drag the economic growth rate down by 0.5 percent this year. Associated Profiles :
(Source: Investors Against Genocide) Thanks to a recent ruling by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shareholders at JPMorgan Chase will have the opportunity to vote on whether they want the company to avoid investments in companies with ties to genocide. JPMorgan’s “no action” request asked the SEC to allow the company to exclude the proposal from the proxy ballot for this year’s annual meeting on May 17 in Columbus, Ohio. The SEC’s rejection of JPMorgan’s request clears the way for the shareholder proposal on genocide-free investing to appear on the proxy ballot. Associated Profiles :
Commentary
(Source: Vanity Fair) It’s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone.
(Source: Eleanor Bloxham) The tenth anniversary of 9/11 is fast approaching and the differences in our world today from just ten years ago are startling. Ten years ago the police and firefighters were the symbols held up to us as the face of US heroism. Today, governors in Wisconsin, Ohio and elsewhere have worked to strip the rights and shrink the paychecks and pensions of the police and firefighters -- and those who teach our children and grandchildren.
(Source: Dan Woods, Forbes) Many executives see the drive toward sustainability as a forced march, one in which the government plays the role of drill sergeant, yelling at companies to be more efficient and cut carbon emissions and then punishing them with regulations. From this perspective, making your business more sustainable means making it worse. In practice, however, this perspective is shortsighted and wrong. The world faces shortages of resources of all kinds. When the cost of oil or water or electric power rises, the company that uses resources most effectively will have an advantage. When a company monitors how its partners do business it can avoid costly damage to its brand from exposure of embarrassing or unlawful business practices.
Reports
(Source: PR Newswire) As the U.S. ramps up vehicle fuel efficiency standards, two new reports from Citi Investment Research, Ceres and longtime independent industry experts conclude that U.S. automakers will be more profitable at a fleetwide 42 mile per gallon (MPG) average in 2020 – the strictest standard now proposed for that year and one seen as eminently achievable – and that by 2015 more than one in 20 cars sold in the U.S. will be hybrid, plug-in or full electric vehicles (EV). Associated Profiles : ; Sovereign Wealth Funds
(Source: Bloomberg) Fairfield Sentry Ltd., a feeder fund that invested in the Ponzi scheme of Bernard Madoff, sued the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to try to recover $300 million in redemption payments. Fairfield Sentry, citing a $3.2 billion lawsuit against it by Madoff trustee Irving Picard, has been filing so-called clawback actions aimed at recouping money. Funds it received from the jailed conman were passed on to its own shareholders as redemption payments, it said in an April 1 bankruptcy court filing. Associated Profiles :
(Source: AP) PARIS — Algeria's former energy minister warned Wednesday the ongoing political and social turmoil in the Arab world will have "dramatic" implications for energy markets in coming years. While the outcome of the Arab revolutions is "by no means certain," it is already evident that "important changes are in progress that are likely to impact energy markets in the long term," Nordine Ait-Laoussine said. Associated Profiles :
(Source: The National) The property arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, best known for developing property in London, is moving into the United States. For its first foray into the US market Qatari Diar is financing the $700 million (Dh2.5 billion) construction of CityCenterDC in Washington DC. The 10-acre project, which broke ground this week, is billed as the largest downtown development under construction in the US. Associated Profiles:
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United States Pension Funds
(Source: Boston Herald) Members of the board that oversees the state pension fund voted Tuesday to take a more activist stance in the companies that the fund invests in against “inflated” executive compensation, in support of more women and minorities on company boards, against predatory lending practices and in support of practices that address environmental sustainability and climate change. Board chairman and state Treasurer Steven Grossman told reporters that the emphasis on these policy goals were all intended to “maximize shareholder value” and support the values of Massachusetts residents and pensioners. Associated Profiles :
(Source: CalPERS, CalSTARS) The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) are working with an Advisory Panel of leading corporate governance experts to develop a new digital resource devoted to finding untapped diverse talent to serve on corporate boards. The Diverse Director DataSource, known as "3D," will offer shareowners, companies and other organizations a facility from which to recruit individuals whose experience, skills and knowledge qualify them to be a candidate for a director's seat. Associated Profiles :
(Source: Bloomberg) U.S. state and local government pension-fund assets rose in value by 5.5 percent in the last three months of 2010 as stock market gains helped recoup losses incurred since the financial crisis. The assets of the hundred largest government employee retirement systems grew by $138 billion to $2.64 trillion by the end of 2010 from three months earlier, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. The rate marks a slowdown from the previous quarter’s growth of 5.9 percent. The gains ease pressure on pensions that were stung by losses during the financial crisis of 2008. The rout left funds across the U.S. with less than they will need to cover all the benefits they have promised, with the shortfalls estimated at anywhere from $700 billion to more than $3 trillion, depending on the assumptions one uses to calculate future liabilities. Associated Profiles :
Watching the Watchers
Category: Rating agencies
Headquarters: Oldwick, NJ, with offices in London and Hong Kong
Established: 1899; rating services began in 1906
OVERVIEW / MISSION
A.M. Best sums up its ratings and analysis work: “A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating agency dedicated to serving the financial and health-care service industries. It began assigning credit ratings in 1906, making it the first of today's rating agencies to use symbols to differentiate the relative creditworthiness of companies.” BACKGROUND
A.M. Best rates financial institutions and insurance companies working in various markets, including property, casualty, life, annuity, health, health maintenance organizations, reinsurance, captive, and title insurance. Best has rated over 10,000 insurance companies in over 95 countries. Best uses qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate companies and securities. The firm issues four types of ratings: financial strength, issuer credit, debt, and bank deposit. Links are available here to guides (some in PDF format) for each type of rating. News Sweeps
(Wednesday - April 06, 2011) Associated Profiles : - OLDWICK, NJ--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of B- (Fair) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “bb-” of DHC Group (DHC) (Long Beach, CA) and its members. The outlook for ...
(Wednesday - April 06, 2011) Associated Profiles : - Its operating subsidiaries have been assigned a rating of “A” (“Strong”) by Standard & Poor's, an “A” (“Excellent”) by AM Best and an “A2” (“Good”) by...
(Wednesday - April 06, 2011) Associated Profiles : - All Lloyd's syndicates are rated A by AM Best. Beazley's underwriters in the United States focus on writing a range of specialist insurance products. In the admitted market, coverage is provided by Beazley ...
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