Active Ownership vs. Divestment: When Is It Either-Or? Can My Foundation Do Both Well?
On Thursday, April 14th, Philanthropy New York will host a panel discussion exploring active ownership and divestment. The Nathan Cummings Foundation’s experience with active ownership strategies will feature in the panel discussion. The program will be live-streamed. More details can be found here.
NCF Proposal Leads to Positive Changes in Duke Energy’s Reporting
March 14, 2016 Following the submission of a shareholder proposal by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Duke Energy has agreed to expand its sustainability report to include a discussion of its plans for responding to the potential challenges posed by slower load growth and increases in distributed generation. Duke will also include links to information on …
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Investors Raising Heat on Fossil Fuel Companies
On the heels of a historic global climate agreement in Paris, investors have filed a record number of shareholder resolutions this year with major U.S. energy companies asking them to disclose their strategies for competing in a global economy that is shifting towards clean energy and away from fossil fuels. The resolutions seek clarity on …
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Large Mutual Funds Fail to Support Proxy Access
UPDATE (March 14, 2016): Shortly after the release of the Proxy Access Scorecard, Vanguard announced a key change to its policy on proxy access. The mutual fund company will now generally support “proxy access” proposals with ownership thresholds of 3% of a company’s shares. Read more about the change in this Reuters article. January 26, …
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NCF Proxy Access Proposal Wins at Oracle Corp.
For Immediate Release November 19, 2015 The Nathan Cummings Foundation, the UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust and The Marco Consulting Group today announce a major corporate governance victory for Oracle shareholders. A proxy access proposal submitted by the three funds to Oracle received the support of a majority of votes cast at the company’s annual …
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Can Southern Company Shareholders Persuade Its Board to Stop Supporting Climate Change Denial?
The Nathan Cummings Foundation and other Southern Company investors publicly voiced concerns about the company’s board of directors ahead of its annual meeting of shareholders this month. One point of particular concern was Southern’s support for controversial climate change skeptic Wei-Hock (Willie) Soon. Read more (via Huffington Post)
NCF, Other Major Foundations Call on SEC to Require Public Company Disclosure of Political Spending
Secret money in politics, especially the corporate variety, has been controversial ever since the Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case. Now, about 70 charitable foundations are asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to end that secrecy. Read more or listen to the story (via NPR)
Shareholders Press Verizon Board on Net Neutrality
Investors in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), including the Nathan Cummings Foundation, are once again pressing the company’s board of directors to report on the business risks arising from the company’s opposition to open Internet and network neutrality principles. Read more
Shareholders Are Not Happy With Oracle’s New Co-CEO Pay
“Five bigwig institutional shareholders want to force Oracle to make radical changes to the way it pays it top three executives: executive chairman and CTO Larry Ellison and co-CEOs Safra Catz and Mark Hurd. They are concerned that Oracle’s board of directors isn’t independent enough from management and ‘insufficient board accountability and poorly designed compensation …
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IBT runs NCF piece on problematic structure at 21st Century Fox
Dear Rupert Murdoch: Please Eliminate Your Company’s Dual-Class Share Structure October 18, 2013 In this piece from the International Business Times, NCF makes the case that long-term shareholder value is still at risk at Rupert Murdoch’s companies due to fundamental corporate governance problems. Read the article here.
Institutional investors call for slew of changes at 21st Century Fox
Pensions & Investments, reported on the Nathan Cummings Foundation’s work to improve shareholder rights at 21st Century Fox, whose shareholder meeting was this week: Read article.
Institutional Investors Press for Disclosure of Corporate Lobbying
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NCF & SRP Encourage Public Company Declassification
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Rupert Murdoch survives calls to step down as chairman
At News Corporation’s annual shareholder meeting, nearly two-thirds of unaffiliated shares were voted against the News Corporation Board’s recommendation that Rupert Murdoch retain his vast voting power and hold onto his position as the Company’s Chairman. While the Nathan Cummings Foundation’s proposal calling for the elimination of the Company’s dual-class capital structure received overwhelming support …
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