Research Affiliates launches benchmarks linked to gender diversity
Research Affiliates has created a new fundamental investment strategy based on an index that takes companies’ gender diversity into account. Announcing the launch of its RAFI Diversity & Governance strategy, the California-based investment management firm – a pioneer in smart beta investing – said the product combined gender diversity data with governance and financial discipline metrics “to seek positive investment outcomes.” Katy Sherrerd, CEO of Research Affiliates, said: “Research shows that diverse teams who embrace collective intelligence make better decisions and are more innovative. Validating this finding in investment returns is handicapped by the lack of data.” (IPE)
Corporate Governance
CEO pay disclosures haven’t altered shareholder support
Shareholder approval of executive compensation remains high this year despite expectations that newly mandated disclosures on CEO pay ratios would result in investor revolt, according to new research from Broadridge Financial Solutions and PwC. As publicly-traded companies begin revealing for the first time how much their chief executive officers make relative to employees, shareholders remain supportive of their big pay checks. Eighty-nine percent of shareholders voted in favour of companies’ say-on-pay proposals in the first half of this year, a level of support that has remained stable since 2014, according to a report Wednesday (3 October) from Broadridge Financial Solutions, a shareholder communications provider, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. (Institutional Investor)
Human Rights
UK Government to invest £26m in tackling modern slavery in Asia
The UK Government has announced that it will invest £26 million into a string of initiatives aimed at combatting modern slavery and child labour across six Asian countries. Called the AAWAZ II programme and jointly facilitated by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and NGO Unicef, the scheme will create a digital birth registration programme for parents across Pakistan. The scheme will also see DFID conduct a child labour survey, with the results set to be used to identify the children most at risk and support Pakistan’s government in strengthening its child protection measures. “From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, the insidious virus of modern slavery is infiltrating all aspects of our daily life without us even realising,” the Secretary of State for International Development Penny Mordaunt said. “Not only does it have a huge cost to the global and the UK’s economy, but it is also a shameful stain on our global conscience that must be eradicated for good.” (Edie)
Employees
McDonald’s, UberEats and Wetherspoon workers strike over pay
UberEats riders and a small number of workers from JD Wetherspoon, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays have been staging walkouts in a pay dispute. Protests were being held in several UK cities, along with a rally in London. The industrial action was organised in tandem with strikes by fast-food workers on four continents. UberEats, JD Wetherspoon, TGI Friday’s and McDonald’s have all defended their record on pay. The rally in London’s Leicester Square was addressed by TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady and shadow chancellor John McDonnell. Separately, about 50 UberEats couriers, Uber drivers and supporters temporarily occupied the lobby of Uber’s London headquarters, in a protest supported by the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). (BBC)
Energy
Mazda pledges to electrify car portfolio by 2030
Japanese carmaker Mazda has committed to switching its entire car portfolio to be either hybrid-electric or fully-electric by 2030, after revealing that it will bring its first hybrid vehicle to the market in 2019. As it strives to meet its 2030 target, the company has announced plans to bring its first hybrid car to the market in 2019, which will combine a battery with a range extender powered by a Mazda rotary engine. After this, Mazda is set to bring its first fully-electric vehicle to the market in 2020. The move towards an all-electric portfolio forms part of Mazda’s ‘Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030’ sustainability strategy, which has a headline goal of reducing the firm’s “well-to-wheel” CO2 emissions by 90% by 2050, against a 2010 baseline. (Edie)
External Event
Ethical Corporation’s 12th Sustainability Reporting and Communications Summit
10-11 October 2018| London
The Sustainability Reporting & Communications Summit will tackle the core issues the industry faces in the drive to a more inclusive, sustainable society. Hear and learn from the best in European sustainability reporting in October [10-11].
Business is undertaking a shift, with momentum building to shift away from a short-term mindset and towards a long-term, sustainable economic model. To reach the 2-degree target and impact upon the SDGs businesses are required to disclose accurate data to showcase future risks and enable long-term value creation. Discover the full un-rivalled agenda topics and speaker line up here.
CCB subscribers receive £200 off the price off the price of the ticket using the code: CC
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