| From across the nation and around the world, INSIGHTS-edge brings you news, commentary and research in key areas of interest regarding ESG, Sovereign Wealth Funds and US Public Sector Pension Funds. We watch the watchers...who are watching you. ESG / Sustainability UN Principles for Responsible Investment tops 800 signatories
(Source: Responsible Investor) The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment now has more than 800 signatories. According to the latest figures on its web site, the UNPRI now has a total of 803 signatories, of which 208 are asset owners, 440 are investment managers and 155 are service providers.
Nestlé announces $550 million sustainable coffee plan
(Source: AFN) Nestlé, the world’s biggest buyer of coffee, will invest more than half a billion US dollars (CHF 500 million) in a wide-ranging plan, endorsed by the Rainforest Alliance, that will address responsible farming, sourcing and consumption across its coffee supply chain.
Corporate Social Responsibility - The Movement Starts Now
(Source: Jessica Guberman, Examiner.com New York) Although the term “CSR” - for Corporate Social Responsibility - started in the early 1970s, it is a term that is beginning to gain wider traction and broader, inherent meaning. Highly debated and criticized as a way to distract from the fundamental economic role of business, CSR is proving to achieve the opposite. The purpose of CSR is to help organizations achieve both their business missions and social missions.
SEC Adopts New Measures to Facilitate Director Nominations by Shareholders
(Source: Securities and Exchange Commission) Washington, D.C. - The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted changes to the federal proxy and other rules to facilitate the rights of shareholders to nominate directors to a company's board. The new rules require companies to include the nominees of significant, long-term shareholders in their proxy materials, alongside the nominees of management. This "proxy access" is designed to facilitate the ability of shareholders to exercise their traditional rights under state law to nominate and elect members to company boards of directors. Sovereign Wealth Funds CIC Approved to Buy More of Morgan Stanley
(Source: Trading Markets) Beijing-- China's USD 200 billion sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. (CIC) has been allowed to purchase about 10% ordinary shares of Morgan Stanley, upon the approval of Federal Reserve.
Sovereign wealth funds are the new kings of the markets
(Source: New Statesman) Britain missed out on establishing one in the 1980s, but today it is the SWFs and their vast reserves of cash that are helping to bail out global banks and snap up bankrupt businesses. US Public Sector Pension Funds Could SEC target California for pension fraud?
(Source: San Francisco Chronicle) The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged that the state of New Jersey "misrepresented and failed to disclose material information regarding its under-funding of pension plans" to buyers of state bonds. In their settlement with the SEC, New Jersey officials did not admit any wrongdoing, but they agreed to continue with efforts to enhance disclosure, including instituting formal, written policies and procedures to bond offerings. Pension systems' lawsuit against bank to continue
(Source: Columbus Dispatch –OH) A federal judge yesterday allowed Ohio pension systems to proceed with their legal claims that Bank of America paid billions of dollars in bonuses to executives of a firm it was absorbing without informing shareholders, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said. | Coming Soon… 
We are in the process of upgrading INSIGHTS-edge, including the addition of many more profiles, identification of ESG critical issues of importance to corporations and investors, adding to the toolbox (twitter, customized email alerts and more). You will see the 2.0 version soon. And, we are rebranding the platform to better identify the focus of our efforts:SustainabilityHQTM
will be here Fall,, 2010.
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Pension fund investments are up, but gaps persist
(Source: Stateline.org) A year after suffering record investment losses, many of the nation’s largest public pension plans are reporting double-digit percentage gains for the budget year that ended June 30.
New Jersey's Pension Fraud Hurts Investors, Taxpayers and Retirees
(Source: Lee Saunders, The Huffington Post) Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did something it has never done before. It charged the state of New Jersey with fraudulently misleading investors about the health of the state's pension plan. From 2001 to 2007, the SEC charged, the state gave out false information about the state's retirement funds. They cooked the books. Now investors, taxpayers and retirees are left to clean up the mess.
Watching the Watchers  Investors Against Genocide
Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
Established: organization announced January 26, 2007, “Holocaust Remembrance Day”
KEY PARTNERS
Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur, and various grassroots investors-activists. Also, members of the US House of Representatives and US Senate
.
OVERVIEW /MISSION
“The goal of Investors Against Genocide is to convince financial institutions to make a commitment that they will not invest in genocide.”
RECENT NEWS
As President Makes Crucial Decision on Sudan, Rights Groups Advocate for ...
(Wednesday - August 25, 2010)
... Project at the Center for American Progress, Save Darfur Coalition, Genocide Intervention Network, Stop Genocide Now, and Investors Against Genocide. ...
Next Up for the SRI Movement: Israel'
(Thursday - July 15, 2010)
Last year, for instance, American Funds--following a push led by the Boston-based Investors Against Genocide—quietly began pulling out of PetroChina, ...
At The Annual CREF Meeting, Shareholders Call on TIAA-CREF to Walk its Talk
(Wednesday - July 14, 2010)
Recently, under pressure from Investors Against Genocide and a looming resolution on the 2010 CREF annual meeting ballot, TIAA-CREF changed a long-standing. |
