The social inequities of executive pay
Why executive compensation is a bigger issue during COVID times October 2, 2020 We’ve heard it said – repeatedly – that the COVID-19 crisis will lead to fundamental shifts in how companies operate. And indeed, at the beginning of the crisis, hundreds of North American executives announced temporary pay cuts to show solidarity with their employees and citizens negatively impacted [...]
The shift from performance to purpose
How investors are setting a very different agenda for responsible investing September 18, 2020 Responsible Investing or RI has always been based on a yin and yang relationship between core values and financial returns. At inception, the RI movement was very much values-driven, focusing on exclusions of companies like tobacco and weapons. More recently, there has been a shift toward [...]
Lessons learned when pro sports become more than entertainment
September 4, 2020 The response of professional sports to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha WI was – to use an overused word that actually applies – unprecedented. The incident inspired a player-led strike, not over wages, but in protest of the societal treatment of a specific group of people. That this happened in the NBA should surprise [...]
2020 Proxy Season: A typically thoughtful representation of the interests of our investors
August 28, 2020 At NEI, we believe thoughtful voting is not just a matter of fulfilling a responsibility to our investors, but also an important tool for active ownership and corporate engagement. Each year we seek to vote the proxies of every holding in NEI’s funds. This effort makes a statement to investors that we recognize our obligation to give [...]