Shareholder Advocacy Update: Veris Clients Leverage their Equity Ownership to Advance Diversity, Racial and Social Justice, and Environmental Stewardship
By Pat Addeo and Karen Walls
Our shareholder proxy engagement initiative with Aperio and As You Sow this 2020 – 2021 proxy season once again demonstrated that engagement with corporations on ESG issues is an effective tool for bending the arc of capitalism to benefit all stakeholders. This year was a transformational year and shareholders took little time to address issues concerning COVID-19 and the social justice and wage inequities many in our country experienced. The Trump administration also proposed and then enacted changes to the SEC shareholder engagement Rule 14a-8 before the election of a new administration.