SGI seeks to provide resources to its Members and the Responsible Investing Community that will support their shareholder engagement, investment processes, or commitment to socially responsible investment.
- Sustainable & Responsible Mutual Fund Chart from US SIF (The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment). The Mutual Fund Performance Chart displays all sustainable and responsible mutual funds offered by US SIF’s institutional member firms. This public tool is meant for individual investors to compare cost, financial performance, screens and voting records of competing funds. All listed funds are open to new investors.
- Invest your values. From As You Sow, these six tools give grades to 3,000 of the most popular mutual funds and ETFs based on their holdings of companies exposed to fossil fuels, guns, gender equality, deforestation, weapons, and tobacco.
- Morningstar Sustainability Rating™. This tool is a means for investors to evaluate how well the companies in a fund’s portfolio are managing the environmental, social, and governance—or ESG—investing factors relevant to their industries. It makes it possible to find sustainable funds even if not marketed specifically as products that support a socially responsible investing approach.
- ICCR Guide to Proxy Resolutions. This guide explains the basics in 27 PowerPoint slides: why file a resolution, filing procedures, critical dates, next steps, the filing packet, cover letter tips, verifying stock ownership, structure and content of resolutions, co-filing and collaboration, and beyond.
- ICCR’s Shareholder Advocacy Learning Center. To view this material, readers need to login to the ICCR members’ area. Filled with a wealth of tools and valuable resources, it is a great introduction to ICCR and shareholder advocacy.
- Frequently Asked Questions About Shareholder Proposal and Proxy Access. From Scott Lesmes, Partner, in the Corporate Group at Morrison & Foerster LLP, this is a helpful resource that responds to common questions.
- Yahoo Finance. For many companies and mutual funds, Yahoo Finance now provides a sustainability score. For instance, here is the score for Apple. To find this rating, if available, for a fund or a company, simply search in Yahoo Finance for the company. Arriving at the company screen, on the far right is a tab for “Sustainability.”
- ProxyDemocracy. The website tracks how fund managers vote their proxies.
Shareholder Resolution Process
- Shareholder Resolution Timeline. From SGI’s Natalie Wasek, this resources spells out the timeframes in the shareholder resolution process.
Incorporating ESG/ SRI Strategies
- 21st Century Engagement: Investor Strategies for Incorporating ESG Considerations into Corporate Interactions. A resource prepared by CERES and BlackRock, this 68-page resource gathers the perspectives of numerous colleagues in socially responsible investing. It also concludes with a very helpful collection of resources.
- Incorporating Sustainable, Responsible And Impact Investing Into Your Practice: A Roadmap For Financial Advisors 2018. This free, downloadable PDF from US SIF is a guide for financial advisors on how to incorporate sustainable, responsible and impact investing (SRI) into their practice.
- Moving Forward with Sustainable, Responsible and Impact Investing: A Roadmap For Money Managers 2018. This free, downloadable PDF from US SIF is a comprehensive guide for money managers on how to incorporate sustainable, responsible and impact investing at their firms.
- Moving Forward With Sustainable Investing: A Roadmap For Asset Owners (2019). Like the previous two documents, this is a free, downloadable PDF from US SIF. This resources is intended for asset owners.
- PRI – Case for an Integrated Investment Policy. By formalizing an investment process in a policy, asset owners differentiate emotions from facts when making investment decisions, keeping a relentless focus on performing in line with their investment strategy in an evidence-based manner. This guide helps asset owners to revise and develop their investment policy and incorporate all long-term factors, including ESG considerations, into their investment decisions, no matter whether these decisions are made directly or indirectly.
- PRI – Asset Owner Strategy Guide: How to Craft an Investment Strategy This paper provides a methodical approach in crafting a clear and explicit investment strategy that avoids common pitfalls including skipping steps, lack of consensus/board-alignment, lack of detail/flexibility or creating a strategy without sufficient consideration of how it will be implemented.
- PRI – Embedding ESG Issues into Strategic Asset Allocation Frameworks. PRI’s discussion paper on strategic asset allocation reviews some of the options available to asset owners and asset managers by reviewing three steps within strategic asset allocation – setting of objectives, reviewing targets & ranges and identifying opportunities at an asset class level.
- PRI – Selecting, Appointing and Monitoring Investment Managers. This introductory guide provides an overview of how asset owners can integrate responsible investment principles and practices into their selection, appointment and monitoring of investment managers.
- PRI – Asset Owners’ Role Driving Responsible Investment Through Manager Relationships. Regulators and beneficiaries are increasingly requiring more active asset ownership. A panel of experts discusses some of these issues and talk through where asset owners can work collaboratively with investment managers through the selection, appointment and monitoring process.
- PRI’s Technical Asset Owner Guides. This guide provides a step-by-step description of how asset owners can integrate responsible investment principles and practices into their selection, appointment and monitoring of investment managers.
2021 Resources
- ICCR 2021 Proxy Resolutions and Voting Guide
- 2021 Proxy Preview, released annually by As You Sow, the Sustainable Investments Institute (Si2), and Proxy Impact, lists specific shareholder resolutions and lays out major themes
SGI Quarterly Webinars
Every three months, SGI will host a webinar. Here is a listing of our recordings:
- Essential Workers: COVID-19 and Racial Equity (February 2021)
- Fossil Fuels: Divest or Engage (November 2020)
- Positive Screens: Going Beyond the Negative (August 2020)
- Human Rights Due Diligence (April 2020)
- The Ag Sector: The Nexus of Migration and Human Trafficking (February 2020)
- Faith-Based Fiduciary (November 2019)
- Corporate Governance (August 2019)
- Holistic Approach to Socially Responsible Investing Webinar (April 2019)
- Decarbonizing Electricity Webinar (Feb. 2019)
- Supply Chain Human Rights (Nov. 2018)
- Shareholder Resolution Process (Aug. 2018)
- Health (April 2018)
- Member Orientation (March. 2018)
- Immigration and the Shareholder (Feb. 2018)
- Navigating the ICCR and SGI website (Dec. 2017)
Climate Change Resources
- ICCR: An Interfaith Investor Response to the Papal Encyclical on Climate Change
- CDP: Climate Change Report 2018
- CDP: Global Forest Report 2019
- NYT: Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change
- HBR: Divestment Alone Won’t beat Climate Change
- Calvert Investments: Policy Engagement Toolkit
- IPCC: Fifth Assessment Report (AR5)
- ICCR: Invested in Change
- ICCR: Faith Based Statements on Climate Change
- Harvard Business School: Divestment Alone Won’t beat Climate Change
- World Bank: Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must Be Avoided
- US-SIF: Investing to Curb Climate Change – A Guide for the Individual Investor
Corporate Governance Resources
- Center for Political Accountability: Track Your Company (political spending)
- As You Sow: The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs 2019
- Ceres: View From the Top: How Corporate Boards Engage on Sustainability Performance
- CalPERS: Global Principles of Accountable Corporate Governance
- Oxfam: An economy for the 99 percent
- S&P Global Market Intelligence: How Increasing Income Inequality Is Dampening U.S. Economic Growth, And Possible Ways To Change The Tide
- Center for American Progress: Next Steps for Progress on Equal Pay
- 24/7 Wall Street: Companies Paying Americans the Least
- Walden Asset Management and Calvert Investments: Policy Engagement Toolkit
Environmental Justice Resources
- OSHA: Transporting Hazardous Materials
- NPR: A Hard Look At The Risks Of Transporting Oil On Rail Tanker Cars
- Resource Hub: North American Crude by Rail
- DOT: Final Rule to Strengthen Safe Transportation of Flammable Liquids by Rail
- Association of American Railroads: Crude by Rail
- ICCR: 40 Years of Environmental Stewardship
Food Safety and Sustainability Resources
- Deforestation & Sustainability:
- Ceres: Investor Guide to Deforestation and Climate Change
- CDP Forests
- US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef: https://www.beefsustainability.us/
Nutrition:
Food Justice:
- ICCR: Recipes for a More Just Food System
- UN: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Oxfam: Behind the Brands
- FRAC: Covid-19 Updates
Health Resources
- ICCR: Statement of Principles and Recommended Practices for Corporations on Domestic Health Issues
- ICCR: An Ounce of Prevention
- Kaiser Family Foundation: Healthcare Research
- Access to Medicine Foundation: Access to Medicine Index 2018
Human Rights Resources
Water Stewardship Resources
- ICCR: Statement of Principles & Recommended Practices for Corporate Water Stewardship
- ICCR: Framing the Dialogue on the Human Right to Water: Opportunities for Multi-stakeholder Collaboration
- CDP: Global Water Report 2019
- Ceres: An Investor Handbook for Water Integration
- Ceres: Feeding Ourselves Thirsty
- The CEO Water Mandate
