trustees united in the news
California Treasurer Joins Group Promoting Safe Workplaces
MAY 13, 2019 PENSIONS AND INVESTMENTS
Fiona Ma, the new California treasurer and a trustee for both CalPERS and CalSTRS, has joined a coalition of asset owner trustees and others urging those in the investment industry to adopt principles to mitigate the risk of sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace.
Trustees United, the coalition of pension plan trustees that includes the $362.7 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, and the $227.8 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System, West Sacramento, was launched in January with a set of four safe workplace principles.
"This is an important day. ... It's the 20th anniversary of ... Denim Day. Women and men all over the world are standing up for the rights of women to be free from sexual assault," Ms. Ma said at an April 24 news conference announcing her adoption of the principles.
The principles, aimed at helping investors manage risk on the issue, include urging corporate boards to support their employees' rights to bring forward claims of sexual harassment and violence without fear of retaliation as well as a principle against the use of non-disclosure agreements and forced arbitration policies that "reinforce the silence that perpetuates harassment."
She said sexual harassment and misconduct are not only distressing and sometimes devastating for workers affected but are also "bad for business."
Sexual harassment and misconduct "leave companies open to significant operational, financial and reputational risks," said Theresa Taylor, co-founder of Trustees United and a CalPERS trustee who also spoke at the news conference.
Not only did the group's founders, all female California pension fund trustees, draft and publicize the principles, but they worked to have their organizations incorporate the principles into their policies and beliefs, Ms. Taylor said.
The coalition now includes national and international trustees as well as money managers and service providers, said Dana Dillon, a co-founder of Trustees United and CalSTRS board chairwoman who also spoke at the event.
Trustees United, the coalition of pension plan trustees that includes the $362.7 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, and the $227.8 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System, West Sacramento, was launched in January with a set of four safe workplace principles.
"This is an important day. ... It's the 20th anniversary of ... Denim Day. Women and men all over the world are standing up for the rights of women to be free from sexual assault," Ms. Ma said at an April 24 news conference announcing her adoption of the principles.
The principles, aimed at helping investors manage risk on the issue, include urging corporate boards to support their employees' rights to bring forward claims of sexual harassment and violence without fear of retaliation as well as a principle against the use of non-disclosure agreements and forced arbitration policies that "reinforce the silence that perpetuates harassment."
She said sexual harassment and misconduct are not only distressing and sometimes devastating for workers affected but are also "bad for business."
Sexual harassment and misconduct "leave companies open to significant operational, financial and reputational risks," said Theresa Taylor, co-founder of Trustees United and a CalPERS trustee who also spoke at the news conference.
Not only did the group's founders, all female California pension fund trustees, draft and publicize the principles, but they worked to have their organizations incorporate the principles into their policies and beliefs, Ms. Taylor said.
The coalition now includes national and international trustees as well as money managers and service providers, said Dana Dillon, a co-founder of Trustees United and CalSTRS board chairwoman who also spoke at the event.
Investors launch principles addressing sexual harassment and workplace misconduct
BY: Paul Hodgson
January 15, 2019 Responsible Investor
* Initiative comes in wake of #MeToo movement
Investors launch principles addressing sexual harassment and workplace misconduct
Trustees at CalPERS, CalSTRS, the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System and the Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association, which together have combined assets of more than $635bn (€555bn), have come together to create the Trustees United Principles.
The principles seek to “ensure portfolio companies are working toward providing workplace cultures and environments that are safe, free of sexual harassment, violence and misconduct”. They focus on human capital management strategies that should help reduce future risks in light of their need for long-term value creation.
While the website, Trustees United, cites the bankruptcy of the Weinstein Company and the $2 billion loss in value at Wynn Resorts following sexual assault allegations against executives there, rather it focuses on “opportunities to create long-term value that have been missed” because companies have allowed sexual harassment and misconduct to occur that has damaged corporate culture.
This is a less headline-grabbing but actually more significant potential value loss. In an interview with RI, Outgoing CalPERS Board President Priya Mathur said: “Major scandals, settlement costs, value loss is important, but there are also other relevant issues for us to think about. For example, a toxic corporate culture is not conducive to productivity.
“Those subject to sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace are less likely to be productive, their morale will be lower, their ability to be engaged with and represent the company is likely to be hampered. Plus, you see increased absenteeism, and impacts on retention and recruitment. And from the consumer standpoint, a significant scandal can have an important impact on brand loyalty. We have to care about this as investors.”
“Long-term value creation requires companies to fully consider the business risks and opportunities they may face and to take action to manage both,” says the website. The trustees recognise that the wave of sexual harassment and misconduct reports open companies up to “significant operational, financial and reputational risks”. This has forced a focus on surrounding issues as well, such as gender, racial and ethnic diversity. The trustees have been asking for transparency surrounding how portfolio companies are mitigating these risks.
In the press release, Mathur said: “This is a joint assertion that trustees and investors alike have a stake in engaging companies to promote policies that reduce incidents of sexual harassment, violence and misconduct and provide safe, supportive, and productive workplaces.”
“We have to care about this as investors.” Mathur also said that sexual harassment and misconduct was a common topic of discussion at the PRI in Person conference in San Francisco in September and was one of the most engaging sessions. And back in August, Bloomberg reported, she said, that investors were including clawback clauses in their M&A documents so that if a sexual harassment incident occurred that damaged the value of an acquired company they could recoup some of that loss.
“We are trustees who talk to each other a lot,” she added, “and the public pension world is our world, so those are the first folks that we are reaching out to, but I have spoken to others who have also integrated principles like this into their engagement policies. I think we will see family offices, endowments, foundations, as they seek to align their investment strategies with their own missions.”
The trustees involved in the principles are intent on using corporate governance engagement strategies addressing these issues, including: general staff, C-Suite leadership and the composition of their boards of directors.
The principles are available at the Trustees United website. They complement principles at each of the signatory organisations. The website invites other trustees to submit their support for the principles by filling in an online form.
Investors launch principles addressing sexual harassment and workplace misconduct
Trustees at CalPERS, CalSTRS, the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System and the Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association, which together have combined assets of more than $635bn (€555bn), have come together to create the Trustees United Principles.
The principles seek to “ensure portfolio companies are working toward providing workplace cultures and environments that are safe, free of sexual harassment, violence and misconduct”. They focus on human capital management strategies that should help reduce future risks in light of their need for long-term value creation.
While the website, Trustees United, cites the bankruptcy of the Weinstein Company and the $2 billion loss in value at Wynn Resorts following sexual assault allegations against executives there, rather it focuses on “opportunities to create long-term value that have been missed” because companies have allowed sexual harassment and misconduct to occur that has damaged corporate culture.
This is a less headline-grabbing but actually more significant potential value loss. In an interview with RI, Outgoing CalPERS Board President Priya Mathur said: “Major scandals, settlement costs, value loss is important, but there are also other relevant issues for us to think about. For example, a toxic corporate culture is not conducive to productivity.
“Those subject to sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace are less likely to be productive, their morale will be lower, their ability to be engaged with and represent the company is likely to be hampered. Plus, you see increased absenteeism, and impacts on retention and recruitment. And from the consumer standpoint, a significant scandal can have an important impact on brand loyalty. We have to care about this as investors.”
“Long-term value creation requires companies to fully consider the business risks and opportunities they may face and to take action to manage both,” says the website. The trustees recognise that the wave of sexual harassment and misconduct reports open companies up to “significant operational, financial and reputational risks”. This has forced a focus on surrounding issues as well, such as gender, racial and ethnic diversity. The trustees have been asking for transparency surrounding how portfolio companies are mitigating these risks.
In the press release, Mathur said: “This is a joint assertion that trustees and investors alike have a stake in engaging companies to promote policies that reduce incidents of sexual harassment, violence and misconduct and provide safe, supportive, and productive workplaces.”
“We have to care about this as investors.” Mathur also said that sexual harassment and misconduct was a common topic of discussion at the PRI in Person conference in San Francisco in September and was one of the most engaging sessions. And back in August, Bloomberg reported, she said, that investors were including clawback clauses in their M&A documents so that if a sexual harassment incident occurred that damaged the value of an acquired company they could recoup some of that loss.
“We are trustees who talk to each other a lot,” she added, “and the public pension world is our world, so those are the first folks that we are reaching out to, but I have spoken to others who have also integrated principles like this into their engagement policies. I think we will see family offices, endowments, foundations, as they seek to align their investment strategies with their own missions.”
The trustees involved in the principles are intent on using corporate governance engagement strategies addressing these issues, including: general staff, C-Suite leadership and the composition of their boards of directors.
The principles are available at the Trustees United website. They complement principles at each of the signatory organisations. The website invites other trustees to submit their support for the principles by filling in an online form.
California Pension Trustees Call for Disclosures of #MeToo Costs
By Emily Chasan and John GittelsohnJanuary 14, 2019, 7:21 AM PST Bloomberg
* New group calls on trustees around the world to do the same
* Data needed on corporate costs, says Priya Mathur of Calpers A group of trustees from some of America’s biggest public pensions are calling on companies to detail costs related to sexual harassment and any measures they’re taking to address the problem.
“We don’t see how it could possibly be accretive to corporate value to have a culture that allows for sexual harassment in the workplace,” said Priya Mathur, the departing president of the $345 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension fund. Companies are losing customers, paying settlements and higher insurance costs and being distracted “from their core strategies because they have to deal with this.”
Together with Sharon Hendricks, the board vice chair of the $219 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System, Mathur formed Trustees United, a group of 13 of the state’s female pension fund trustees seeking to improve corporate disclosures on sexual harassment, violence and misconduct. They want companies to publicly declare how they investigate harassment complaints, disclose settlement costs to investors, and publish information about policies to protect workers and promote diversity.
‘Long-Term Value’
“Without sufficient data, we really don’t know what companies are paying,” Mathur said in an interview. The first woman to chair the biggest U.S. pension fund, Mathur will end her tenure this week. “We can all list ways in which we think this is costly to companies and investors, but for us to do analysis and really identify which companies are developing a culture that is supportive of productivity and long-term value creation, we need more data.”
California has been a leader in promoting diversity and taking action against harassment. As of 2019, new laws prohibit non-disclosure agreements in settlements of sexual harassment, assault or discrimination; require employee harassment training; and mandate that boards of publicly traded companies based in the state have at least one female director.
The new group, which also includes trustees from the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System and the Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association, is asking their colleagues and pension fund trustees around the world -- male and female -- to sign on to its principles.
Joining Forces
The idea for the group started on a bus ride following a trustees’ network meeting last March on investment risks from sexual harassment. Mathur, Hendricks, Calstrs board chair Dana Dillon and Calpers board member Theresa Taylor decided they needed to join forces.
Over the course of the year, both pension boards adopted language in their investment policies aimed at pressing y6toiu1companies to disclose more about harassment. Similar language was proposed at a Lacers board meeting last week.
“I don’t think we’re alone in tackling these issues, but we’re at the top of the investment chain so to speak, and we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to take this on,” Mathur said. “There’s clearly an inflection point in our society where we’re saying we’re no longer going to tolerate this behavior, and that’s an important signal to investors.”