{"id":1599,"date":"2009-08-13T21:31:57","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T21:31:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ietransfer.wpengine.com\/?p=1599"},"modified":"2009-08-13T21:31:57","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T21:31:57","slug":"do-shareholders-impact-sustainable-business-practices-part-2-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inspiredeconomist.com\/articles\/do-shareholders-impact-sustainable-business-practices-part-2-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Shareholders Impact Sustainable Business Practices? (Part 2 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>What if you call your HR department or brokerage firm and discover you don’t have SRI options available with your 401(k)?\u00a0 Does that mean you can’t be a socially responsible investor?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 If you own shares in a company, you have partial ownership and certain privileges.\u00a0 Corporations mail out their annual reports containing proxy statements and voting forms.\u00a0 With our votes<\/a>, we have the ability to help shape sustainable business in corporate America.\u00a0 We can be shareholder advocates.
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Vote, Vote, Vote…<\/h3>\n

As shareholders, we can submit a shareholder proposal for the company to take a certain course of action.\u00a0 The corporation must include the proposal in a proxy statement and give other shareholders a chance to vote for or against it at the next annual meeting.\u00a0 Don’t fret if you can’t attend the annual meeting, included with the proxy statement is a proxy voting form.\u00a0 It is similar to an absentee ballot; it allows you to instruct a company representative to vote your shares for you.<\/p>\n

Because I don’t own a lot of shares, I assume my vote is insignificant so I recycle the information.\u00a0 Boy…was I wrong.\u00a0 Traditionally, votes not cast by shareholders end up cast in favor of the company’s position.\u00a0 So even if you think you’re withholding your vote, it may end up supporting management and defeating a shareholder proposal.\u00a0 That’s pretty sneaky!\u00a0 The SEC has received complaints that this system unfairly favors management and has launched an investigation.\u00a0 Some brokers have already switched to a proportional voting system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, many corporations are largely owned by mutual funds, and these funds get to vote according to the number of shares they have.\u00a0 You can let your fund managers know how you feel about certain issues.\u00a0 You can actually influence their vote!\u00a0 These funds are under even greater pressure to vote responsibly, because accountability websites are beginning to pop up.\u00a0 For example, you can visit ProxyDemocracy<\/a> to learn how your mutual funds have voted or will vote at the next annual meeting.<\/p>\n

Your Shareholder Impact…<\/h3>\n

Yes, that sounds all fine and dandy, but does my shareholder vote really make a difference?\u00a0 Absolutely!\u00a0 The Motley Fool<\/a> highlighted some recent results from shareholder advocacy:<\/p>\n