As president of an asset management firm owned by environmental advocacy organizations, Samuelrich is keenly aware of Green Century’s leadership role related to shareholder advocacy issues on behalf of the firm’s investor and advisor clients. The firm regularly leads and joins coalitions with other asset managers and institutional investors in advocacy campaigns that can span years of engagement with companies on some issues.
One ongoing campaign involves advocacy with the Indonesian government and corporations that own palm oil plantations in Indonesia and supply their product to household and personal products consumer companies globally. In 2015 Green Century spearheaded a letter from 60 investors with over $2 trillion in AUM to President Jokowi in support of a five-year moratorium prohibiting the issuance of new licenses to establish palm oil plantations and limiting the negative impacts on the archipelago nation’s environment and indigenous communities. The moratorium was formalized by the Indonesian government.
It was clear to me after our conversation that Samuelrich’s thinking about shareholder advocacy is deeply embedded in the values of ESG factor analysis. As she put it, “This work requires us to anticipate what companies are going to do, and not just address how their business model is impacting the environment, local economies and indigenous communities today.”
“This kind of successful advocacy inspires me to do what I can every day to help sustainable, ESG and impact investing grow as a percentage of professionally managed assets in the private and public markets,” Samuelrich said with anticipation. “I also think it’s important that firms like Green Century, which have developed the core values of this industry over many years, continue articulating them and stand firm on the importance of long-term company ownership and shareholder advocacy as guiding principles for investors and advisors.”
Embracing Diversity And Sustainability
“I have never taken an existing job, and I never will”, said Patsy Doerr, global head, corporate responsibility and inclusion at Thomson Reuters. In our conversation last December, I got to hear how Doerr took a newly minted diversity job at Thomson Reuters and turned it into a full-blown sustainability platform throughout the organization, reporting directly to the chairman. After six years, she has not only developed a successful in-house diversity and inclusion program but is also in charge of corporate sustainability efforts within the firm as well as Thomson Reuters entire sustainability outreach effort to clients.
In one of her most influential initiatives, Doerr has incorporated all the firm’s sustainability metrics into the Thomson Reuters Eikon platform, which also provides information on 400 sustainability metrics for over 6,000 companies globally. According to Doerr, “Leveraging this capability allows Thomson Reuters to take a leadership role in sustainability impact with a direct correlation to the firm’s bottom line and drives sustainability deeper into the Thomson Reuters business culture.”