Finally: Significant Progress on Board Diversity By Holly TestaDownload the PDF First Affirmative has seen frustratingly slow, but nevertheless steady progress when it comes to board diversity. Of note this proxy season were our successful withdrawals of board diversity proposals at Masimo and Cambrex after both companies took steps to revise nominating committee guidelines and improve their search process […]
You’ve probably noticed that the First Affirmative team has been on the road quite a bit over the last few months as we co-present the 2019 Sustainable Investment Solutions (SIS) symposium series. Last week we were in Boston for yet another great SIS event. We’ve really seen attendance at these regional events ticking up. More […]
I was so encouraged when I attended the recent Sustainable Investment Solutions event in Washington DC on June 25 sponsored by a group of premier asset managers. With close to 60% of the room filled with advisors, 30% of whom were attending their first ever impact investing event, there was robust discussion, a lot of […]
The vibe: dynamic!The venue: nostalgic!The content: strong!The event: impactfully unconventional. These are the words that I use to describe my experience at the 2019 FPA NexGen Gathering at the beautifully historic Loyola University New Orleans. As my colleague and I walked through the lovely campus, I knew that it was going to be a different […]
First Affirmative’s key messages to advisors at the 2019 FPA NextGen Gathering: Follow your passion to build your practice! Enable clients to invest with their hearts – as well as their heads! Clients CAN achieve both their financial and impact objectives! Sustainable, responsible, and impact (SRI) investing is the unique value proposition you’ve been searching […]
Slowing Continues By Mel Miller, CFA® | Chief Economist The December Economic Commentary highlighted my concern that the economy might have slowed “too much.” As I share the first quarter results in this publication, I still can not answer the question. The fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 2.2%. The first quarter GDP slowed […]
Volatility reigns: It just feels better on the upside By Theresa Gusman Volatility reigned in the first quarter. The US stocks surged higher, posting their best quarter in nearly a decade and offsetting the fourth quarter downdraft. Equity markets rebounded worldwide led by China, as US-China trade tensions eased, and the Fed signaled that it […]
Government Shutdown Impacts 2019 Proxy Season By Holly TestaDownload the PDF The start of this year’s shareholder proposal season was shrouded in uncertainty, as the government shutdown late last year included the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is responsible for oversight of the process. Companies have the option of filing no action requests with […]
PROXY MEMORANDUM Date: March 20, 2019 To: Nucor Corporation shareholders Subject: Shareholder resolution requesting a report on the company’s political spending policies and practices Lead Filer: First Affirmative Financial Network, on behalf of Waterglass, LLC Contact: Holly A. Testa, Director, Shareowner Engagement hollytesta@firstaffirmative.com/303-641-5190 We ask for your support of the following resolution that will be included in the Nucor Proxy Statement […]
First Affirmative Financial Network withdrew a shareholder proposal filed at SBA Communications, Inc. that asked the company to issue a report describing the company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, performance, and improvement targets. SBA Communications owns and operates wireless infrastructure in the US, Canada, and Central and South America and is a recent addition to the […]
