a proposal to create an advisory committee on socially responsible investing the advisory committee...
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A Proposal to Create an Advisory Committee on
Socially Responsible Investing
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Table of Contents
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
•Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)•SRI & Boston College
•Examples at other Universities•Committee Proposal
•Get Involved
Socially Responsible Investing
(SRI)
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
“Doing Good while doing Well”
Three Tenants of SRI
•Social Screening•Shareholder Advocacy•Alternative Investing
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Social Screening
•Proactive:Positive ScreeningAvoidance Screening
•Re-active:Divestment
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Qualities of a good “corporate citizen”
•Respectable employee relations
•Strong records of community involvement
•Excellent environmental impact policies and practices
•Respect for human rights around the world
•Safe and useful products
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Examples of Social Screening:
•The Domini 400 Social Index:•Avoids: alcohol, tobacco, gambling, nuclear power, pornography, firearms, and military contractors•Rewards: corporate citizenship, diversity, employee/labor relations, environment, safe products
•Harvard University: Divested all tobacco stocks and has prevented their future purchase
•US Conference of Catholic Bishops: Screens out firms primarily engaged in the development or production of military weapons
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Shareholder Advocacy:•Shareholders have the right to introduce and vote on proxy (shareholder) resolutions regarding certain company matters
•Shareholder Advocacy describes investor efforts to submit and vote corporate proxy resolutions as a means of positively influencing company behavior.
•Dialogue with Corporate Management
•Phone Calls, Letters, Meetings
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Shareholder Advocacy Successes:•Through shareholder resolutions over 200 corporations were pressured to break all ties with Apartheid South Africa
•General Motors signed the CERES principles, a corporate environmental code (an environmental code of conduct).
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Generally only 10% of the votes are needed for social and environmental shareholder resolutions!
Alternative Investing :
Providing struggling communities with access to badly needed capital.
Tools for building healthy communities:•Affordable housing•Job creation•Micro-loans
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
SRI & Boston College
What we know… and what we don’t.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
What we know:•BC has an endowment of approximately $1.1 billion, overseen by 10 money managers.
•BC pays up to $10,000 annually for the services of the Investor Responsibility Research Center.
•The Treasurer’s Office provides only a “broad guideline” for voting on shareholder resolutions. No vote is mandatory.
•BC has no social or environmental screening practices in place.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
What we don’t know:•If or how the money managers vote on resolutions
•The proxy voting guideline provided to the money managers
•The publicly traded securities held in the endowment portfolio
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Why the unnecessary secrecy?
What we are missing out on!Without an SRI advisory committee…BC will not be using its numerous shares to vote in favor of these 2004 social and environmental shareholder resolutions that would require:•Costco
– Develop a culturally sensitive land acquisition policy, specifically in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
•Wal-Mart– Prepare an Equal Employment Opportunity Report.– Prepare a Sustainability Report.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Where this leaves us:Boston College is only half living up to its commitment towards social justice!
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Are we a University of “Men and Women for Others” ?
With our time? (volunteering)
With our money?
What we should think about:
Is business a special or unique game outside other human issues?
Do those who work in finance stand outside the Jesuit mission?
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
SRI at Other Universities
Who & How?
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Examples of Universities with Active SRI Advisory
CommitteesBarnard Brown Columbia
Dartmouth* Earlham Hampshire Harvard Princeton Smith Stanford Swarthmore U.
Minnesota U Penn Vassar Wesleyan* Williams Yale
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
*proposed
Size doesn’t matter…Endowment Size (FY 2002)
•Hampshire $30 Million •Barnard $126 Million •Earlham $214 Million •Wesleyan $484 Million •Vassar $554 Million •Smith $810 Million•Swarthmore $894 Million •Williams $1.2 Billion •Brown $1.4 Billion
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
•U. Minnesota $1.5 Billion•Dartmouth $2.4 Billion•U Penn $3.4 Billion•Columbia $4.2 Billion•Stanford $7.6 Billion•Princeton $8.3 Billion•Yale $10.5 Billion•Harvard $17.5 Billion
Portfolio Transparency :•These institutions all have various levels of portfolio transparency.
•All SRI Advisory Committees have access to information regarding endowment securities.
•Many of these universities also provide this information to their community.
•Others go as far as making the information completely public.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
SRI Advisory Committee @ BC
What we are asking for…
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
We, the Boston College Community, want
Our University to adhere to its Mission Statement and the Jesuit ideals it was founded upon-
“Boston College commits itself to the pursuit of a just society”
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
From the BC Mission Statement
In light of that, we are asking for:1. Boston College to establish a 12 member Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing that would include:
•Undergrad Students •Graduate Students•Faculty & Staff•Jesuits
2. Transparency for the committee and the University Community.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
In light of that, we are asking for:3. Boston College to use their endowment to partake in shareholder advocacy.
4. Boston College to allow the process to be Open and Democratic.
What does Boston College need to hide?
Lead the way to a more just society!
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Get Involved
What you can do to help…
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Learn More
•Pick up the full proposal on your way out.
•Talk to someone in GJP that knows more about SRI and our proposal.
•Research this yourself. There is lots of information and documentation that can be found with just your web browser.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Spread the Word
•Talk about SRI with your friends and family.
•Communicate the need to join us in this mission to all of the organizations you are involved with.
•This presentation and our proposal can be found at www.bc.edu/gjp or can be obtained from any member of GJP.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Commit to the Initiative:
•Personally sign the Letter of Proposal to be presented to our Board of Trustees.
•Get your campus organizations to sign onto the initiative.
•Vote or run in the first Committee Elections.
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project
Thank you for your time, energy, and dedication!
The Advisory Committee on SRIAn Initiative of the Global Justice
Project