February 2, 2010
Special Notice for
Shareholders in Our European and PacAsia Funds
As a shareholder in the Domini European Social Equity Fund or Domini
PacAsia Social Equity Fund, you should have received a proxy statement in the
mail regarding an important proposal that affects your funds. The combined
proxy statement and prospectus can
also be viewed here.
You are being asked to approve a reorganization of the Funds whereby the
Domini International Social Equity Fund will acquire all of the assets and
liabilities of the Domini European Social Equity Fund and the Domini PacAsia
Social Equity Fund.
After the completion of the transaction, the Domini European Social
Equity Fund and the Domini PacAsia Social Equity Fund will be dissolved and
will no longer be available for investment.
The Funds’ Board
of Trustees unanimously recommends that you vote “For” this proposal.
Please review the combined proxy statement and prospectus and cast your vote as follows:
Mail: Complete, sign,
and return the card you received in the mail, or
Phone: Call
1-800-690-6903 and follow the instructions (to speak to a live person, call
1-800-829-6554), or
Online: Visit www.proxyvote.com and follow
the instructions.
Your vote is
important and only takes a few minutes to cast. If you have any
questions or need help, please call 1-800-582-6757.
January 12, 2010
Domini Social Equity
Fund Outperforms S&P 500 by 9% in 2009
Lipper ranks socially responsible fund in top
10% of large cap core equity.
November 6, 2009
How Is Domini
Addressing Healthcare Reform?
Over the years, we’ve
received thousands of emails from fund shareholders asking a wide range of
questions. We thought it would be interesting to share some of our responses to
questions that touch on matters of broad interest.
Recently, a shareholder wrote: “What kind of pressure are you putting on
pharmaceuticals to stop their attack on health care reform. As an investor I am
VERY concerned about this and am considering divesting from all of them!”
In our response we wrote the following:
“We share your concerns about corporate lobbying activity on healthcare
and many other critical issues, and we have worked to address these concerns
through shareholder activism and through the standards we use to select
holdings for our funds.
“We have been an active member of the Center for Political
Accountability, an investor organization seeking to bring greater
transparency to corporate political activity, and have successfully convinced a
number of firms to publicly disclose their political contributions. For
example, we were part of the investor group that convinced Merck to do so.
Information disclosed by Merck is available
online. We also vote our proxies in favor of proposals addressing health
care reform filed by labor unions and religious organizations.
“When reviewing pharmaceutical companies for the Domini Funds, our analysts
focus on three broad areas: access to medicine, the degree to which a company
focuses on patent-protected medicines, and pricing controversies. We favor
firms with a commitment to providing vaccines and preventative care, as opposed
to those focused on ‘lifestyle’ drugs, such as Viagra. We have also excluded
from our funds virtually all managed care organizations, such as Aetna and
Cigna. We have also excluded virtually all for-profit hospitals, as well as
many of the largest pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer.
“As I'm sure you're aware, the insurance industry has been active in this
debate as well. Reliable information on corporate lobbying activities can be
difficult to obtain, but we do keep an eye on the issue and have excluded
companies from our portfolios due to concerns in this area. Our exclusion of
United Health, for example, related to its lobbying activities on health care
reform.
“We have not decided to divest from the pharmaceutical or insurance industries,
although we do exclude individual companies that we believe fail to meet our
social and environmental standards. These companies are regularly reviewed
seeking to capture new information and emerging issues. Our Global Investment Standards
are available at our website. To review the full portfolio for each of our
funds, please visit the Domini
Funds section of our website, select a fund, and select
"Portfolio." Full fund portfolios are also disclosed in our Semi-Annual
and Annual Reports to shareholders.”
If you have
questions or comments about the Domini Funds or our investment policies, please
write us using our online
email form.
Past performance is no guarantee of future
results. The Domini Funds
are not insured and are subject to market risks. You may lose money. Certain
fees and expenses apply to a continued investment and are described in the prospectus. The
composition of each fund's portfolio is subject to change,
The social and
environmental standards applied to the Domini Funds are subject to change without
notice, as is Domini’s analysis of any of the companies named above. The
information provided above should not be deemed an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy the stock of any of the companies noted, or a
recommendation concerning the merits of any of these companies as an investment.
You should consider the Domini Funds'
investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. View
or order a copy of the Funds'
current prospectus for more complete information on these and other topics.
Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.
DSIL Investment
Services LLC, Distributor. 11/09
September 24, 2009
Amy Domini Named
“Responsibility Pioneer” by Time Magazine
Amy Domini, founder
and CEO of Domini Social Investments, has been honored by Time magazine as one of 25 “Responsibility Pioneers” who are
changing the world. The list accompanied the magazine's special section on
community service, "The Responsibility Revolution," in the September
21 issue.
"Amy Domini
started shaking up Wall Street in 1984 with a book she co-wrote, Ethical Investing," wrote Time’s
Jeremy Caplan.
"Since then, she
has used various means — from working with executives to forcing reforms via
shareholder resolutions — to help companies grow a conscience. And she has
proved that principles pay.... Her investing ethos is simple: 'The future of
the planet is as important as an earnings report.'"
Amy Domini has been
honored previously by Time magazine.
In 2005, she was named by the magazine as one of the 100 most influential
people in the world. In 2008, Directorship
magazine included Amy Domini in its Directorship 100, a list of the most
influential people on corporate governance and in the boardroom. She has
received honorary doctorates from the Northeastern University College of Law
and Yale University's Berkeley Divinity School.
You should consider
the Domini Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully
before investing. View
or order a copy of the
Funds' current prospectus for more complete information on these and other
topics. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.
The Domini Funds are subject to market risks and are
not insured. You may lose money.
September 3, 2009
Domini Marks 15
Years of Shareholder Activism
Back in 1994, Domini
filed its first shareholder resolution, asking Wal-Mart* to disclose Equal
Employment Opportunity information.
Since then, we have
filed a total of 200 resolutions with 83 companies and engaged in numerous
long-term dialogues with corporate management on a range of social,
environmental, and governance issues.
Together with our
shareholders and many committed people and organizations with whom we have
partnered, we have helped alleviate poverty among coffee farmers, improve
conditions for factory workers, protect forests, and protect the rights of gay
and lesbian employees.
The latest issue of
our quarterly Social
Impact Update reviews highlights of our first 15 years of shareholder
activism, including the following:
• Procter & Gamble
Markets Fair Trade Coffee
• Gap Releases First Social Responsibility Report
• JPMorgan Adopts Comprehensive Environmental Policy
• Apple Adopts Code of Conduct
• Protecting Forests
• Domini Raises Alert on Nanomaterials, Toxics
• Lifting the Veil on Corporate Political Contributions
None of our successes
would have been possible without the help of our Funds' shareholders. We thank
you for your commitment to making a difference in the world through the way you
invest.
*Wal-Mart was removed
from the Domini Social Equity Fund’s portfolio in 2001 and does not currently
meet our Global Investment Standards.
You should consider
the Domini Funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully
before investing. View
or order a copy of the
Funds' current prospectus for more complete information on these and other
topics. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.
|
August 5, 2009
Domini
Funds Outperform in Second Quarter
After one of the most painful periods in stock market
history, the U.S. stock market rebounded strongly in the second quarter — and
the Domini Funds rebounded even more strongly. All four of Domini's
stock funds outperformed their benchmarks for the quarter, and the Domini
Social Equity Fund was significantly ahead of its benchmark for the six
months ending June 30.
Our flagship fund, the Domini Social Equity Fund (Investor
shares)(Ticker DSEFX), rose 20.58% for the quarter, almost
five percentage points more than the S&P 500, which returned 15.93%. For
the first six months of 2009, the Fund rose 8.41% versus
3.16% for the index.
The Domini European Social Equity Fund (Investor
shares)(Ticker DEUFX) rose 26.80% compared to the MSCI
Europe index return of 25.89% for the second quarter of 2009.
The Domini PacAsia Fund (Investor shares)(Ticker DPAFX) rose 30.11%
compared to the MSCI All Country Asia Pacific index, which returned
28.20% for the second quarter of 2009.
And the Domini European PacAsia Social Equity Fund (Investor
shares)(Ticker DUPFX) rose 27.64% compared to the MSCI EAFE return of 25.85%.
The Fund also outperformed its benchmark for the first six months of 2009,
rising 8.46% versus 8.42% for the index.
Investors are not out of the woods yet. The worldwide
financial crisis that has unfolded over the last two years has left
portfolios in the red, even after the second quarter's exceptional returns.
These returns are short-term and cannot be relied on to predict future
results, but can certainly be encouraging.
Visit www.domini.com to read each Fund's Performance
Commentary for the second quarter, including a quarterly overview of
Domini's shareholder activism and proxy voting.
Domini Social Equity Fund Investor Shares
|
Average
Annual Total Returns as of 6/30/2009
|
|
|
2nd
Quarter
|
Year to
Quarter
|
1 Yr
|
3 Yr
|
5 Yr
|
10 Yr
|
Since Inception
6/3/1991
|
|
DSEFX
|
20.58%
|
8.41%
|
–24.39%
|
–8.28%
|
–3.77%
|
–3.44%
|
6.30%
|
|
S&P 500
|
15.93%
|
3.16%
|
–26.21%
|
–8.22%
|
–2.24%
|
–2.22%
|
7.00%
|
On November 30, 2006, the Domini Social Equity Fund, formerly
a passively managed index fund, transitioned to an active management
strategy. Past performance through November 29, 2006, and statistics derived
from that performance, represent the former passive investment strategy, and
are not indicative of future results.
For the period reported in its current prospectus, during
which net operating expenses were capped by the Fund's Manager, the Fund's
gross annual operating expenses totaled 1.24% of net assets. Until November
30, 2009, the Fund's Manager has contractually agreed to waive certain fees
and/or reimburse certain expenses, including management fees, so that
expenses paid by the Fund will not exceed, on a per annum basis, 1.20% of its
average daily net assets representing Investor shares, absent an earlier
modification by the Board of Trustees, which oversees the Funds.
Domini European Social Equity Fund Investor Shares
|
Average
Annual Total Returns as of 6/30/2009
|
|
|
2nd
Quarter
|
Year to
Quarter
|
1 Yr
|
3 Yr
|
5 Yr
|
10 Yr
|
Since Inception
10/3/2005
|
|
DEUFX
|
26.80%
|
7.63%
|
–36.96%
|
–12.36%
|
NA
|
NA
|
–4.82%
|
|
MSCI Europe
|
25.89%
|
7.69%
|
–34.05%
|
–7.84%
|
NA
|
NA
|
–2.37%
|
For the period reported in its current prospectus, during
which net operating expenses were capped by the Fund's Manager, the Fund's
gross annual operating expenses totaled 1.80% of net assets. Until November
30, 2009, the Fund's Manager has contractually agreed to waive certain fees
and/or reimburse certain expenses, including management fees, so that
expenses paid by the Fund will not exceed, on a per annum basis, 1.60% of its
average daily net assets representing Investor shares, absent an earlier
modification by the Board of Trustees, which oversees the Funds.
Domini PacAsia Social Equity Fund Investor Shares
|
Average
Annual Total Returns as of 6/30/2009
|
|
|
2nd
Quarter
|
Year to
Quarter
|
1 Yr
|
3 Yr
|
5 Yr
|
10 Yr
|
Since Inception
12/27/2006
|
|
DPAFX
|
30.11%
|
15.22%
|
–23.99%
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
–12.80%
|
|
MSCI AC
Asia Pacific
|
28.20%
|
16.83%
|
–22.33%
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
–8.91%
|
As stated in its current prospectus, the Fund's gross annual
operating expenses totaled 2.48% of net assets. Until November 30, 2009, the
Fund's Manager has contractually agreed to waive certain fees and/or
reimburse certain expenses, including management fees, so that expenses paid
by the Fund will not exceed, on a per annum basis, 1.60% of its average daily
net assets representing Investor shares, absent an earlier modification by
the Board of Trustees, which oversees the Funds.
Domini European PacAsia Social Equity Fund Investor Shares
|
Average
Annual Total Returns as of 6/30/2009
|
|
|
2nd
Quarter
|
Year to
Quarter
|
1 Yr
|
3 Yr
|
5 Yr
|
10 Yr
|
Since Inception
6/1/2000
|
|
DUPFX
|
27.64%
|
8.46%
|
–33.77%
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
–18.91%
|
|
MSCI
EAFE
|
25.85%
|
8.42%
|
–30.96%
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
–13.43%
|
As stated in its current prospectus, the Fund's gross annual
operating expenses total 3.19% of net assets. Until November 30, 2009, the
Fund's Manager has contractually agreed to waive certain fees and/or
reimburse certain expenses, including management fees, so that expenses paid
by the Fund will not exceed, on a per annum basis, 1.60% of its average daily
net assets representing Investor shares, absent an earlier modification by
the Board of Trustees, which oversees the Funds.
|
|
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Each
Fund's returns quoted above represent past performance after all expenses.
Investment return, principal value, and yield will fluctuate so that an
investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their
original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the
performance data quoted. For performance information current to the most
recent month-end, visit www.domini.com or call 1-800-582-6757. Each
Domini Fund charges a 2.00% redemption fee on sales or exchanges of shares made
less than 30 days after the settlement of purchase or acquisition through
exchange, with certain exceptions. See the applicable prospectus for further
information.
The tables above do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a
shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the redemption of Fund shares.
Total return is based on each Fund's net asset values and assumes all
dividends and capital gains were reinvested. An investment in each Fund is
not a bank deposit and is not insured. You may lose money. Certain fees
payable by each Fund were waived during the period, and each Fund's average
annual total returns would have been lower had these not been waived.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500), the Morgan
Stanley Capital International Europe Index (MSCI Europe), the Morgan Stanley
Capital International All Country Asia Pacific Index (MSCI AC Asia Pacific),
and the Morgan Stanley Capital International Europe, Australia, and Far East
Index (MSCI EAFE) are unmanaged indexes of common stocks.
Although the Domini Social Equity Fund Investor shares,
Domini European Social Equity Fund Investor shares, Domini PacAsia Social
Equity Fund Investor shares, and Domini European PacAsia Social Equity Fund
Investor shares are no-load, certain fees and expenses apply to a continued
investment and are described in the prospectus. The composition of the Funds'
portfolios are subject to change.
Investing internationally involves special risks, such as
currency fluctuations, social and economic instability, differing securities
regulations and accounting standards, limited public information, possible
changes in taxation, and periods of illiquidity. These risks are magnified in
emerging markets.
You should consider the Domini Funds' investment objectives,
risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. View or order a copy of the Funds'
current prospectus for more complete information on these and other topics.
Please read the prospectus carefully before investing or sending money.
DSIL Investment Services LLC, Distributor. 07/09
|
June 18, 2009
Domini Charts
Future of Responsible Investing
Domini Chief Investment Officer Steve Lydenberg and sustainability
investment strategist Graham Sinclair of Sinclair & Company have published
“Mainstream or Daydream? The
Future for Responsible Investing” (PDF) in the April 2009 issue of the Journal
of Corporate Citizenship,
The article begins by surveying the state of responsible investing
today, then poses — and answers — three key questions for each of three
stakeholders: corporations, institutional investors, and financial and academic
communities:
Corporations
- Can the
widely accepted definition of the role of the corporation as a short-term
profit-maximizing machine be changed, and, if so, how?
- Will
corporations come to recognize that rule-setting by government can enhance
their abilities to address social and environmental challenges, and, if
so, why?
- Can
corporations work cooperatively with government to define the relationship
between these two powerful forces so that the pursuit of private goods
does not undercut the creation of public goods?
Institutional
investors
- Should the
goal of investing encompass broad benefits to society as well as
short-term, price-based returns, and, if so, in what ways?
- Should
politics be separated from investment decision-making, and, if so, who is
to make this distinction?
- Should the
practice of responsible investment be applied across asset classes, and,
if so, is this practice the same for all classes?
Financial and
academic communities
- Should the
value of investments be assessed in terms other than stock price, and, if
so, what is the yardstick for such measurement?
- Should
responsible investing be legitimized as a key part of the investment
process, and, if so, through what means?
- Can
individual investors be active enough “financial citizens” to make
responsible investing a reality, and, if not, why not?
The answers to these questions, the authors say, could point the way to
fundamental changes in the relations between corporations, government, and
society in general, as well as the basic principles on which the financial
community operates.
June 9, 2009
Domini Authors
Featured in Finance for a Better World
Domini officials contributed two chapters to Finance for a
Better World: The Shift Toward Sustainability, a new book on sustainable
investing published by Palgrave Macmillan. The two chapters focus on how
socially responsible investing can address short-term thinking in our financial
markets and improve corporate human rights performance, respectively.
Steve Lydenberg, Domini’s Chief Investment Officer, argues
that socially responsible investing can remedy the short-term thinking that has
plagued our financial markets. “An excessive focus on short-term profits has
various detrimental effects,” writes Lydenberg. “It causes corporate managers
to misallocate assets. It introduces dangerous volatility into financial
markets. It means society must divert productive resources to repairing
environmental and social damage done in the headlong pursuit of profits.” Lydenberg
suggests that social investing, with its focus on long-term social and
environmental sustainability, can help to refocus finance on the long-term.
Adam Kanzer, Domini’s Managing Director and General Counsel,
draws on his experience as the head of Domini’s shareholder activism program in
a chapter examining the use of shareholder proposals to address corporate human
rights performance. His chapter outlines the legal basis for these proposals
and shows how nonbinding shareholder proposals have successfully influenced
corporate behavior even when they fall far short of a majority vote. He points
out, for example, that the shareholder proposals that helped bring Reverend Leon
Sullivan to the Board of General Motors received less than 3% of the vote.
Sullivan later authored the Sullivan Principles to guide businesses in
apartheid-era South Africa, which played an important role in ending apartheid.
According to its publisher, Finance for a Better World “provides an overview of current advances
regarding the integration of sustainability in the financial sector. Its
originality lies in the fact that it does not focus exclusively on a particular
aspect of this emerging trend, but instead, presents various illustrations — or
instance in the fields of SRI, sustainable banking or innovative investments —
of what can be considered as the beginning of a paradigm shift in global
finance.”
The book was edited by Henri-Claude de Bettignies, the EU Chair Distinguished Professor of Global Governance
and China-Europe Business Relations at CEIBS, Shanghai, China and
François Lépineux, a Research Fellow at INSEAD, and
Professor and Head of the Center for Responsible Business at ESC Rennes School
of Business, Brittany, France.
June 3, 2009
Domini Executive Selected
for SEC Investor Advisory Committee
Domini Social Investments’ Managing Director and General
Counsel, Adam Kanzer, has been selected to join the Securities and Exchange
Commission’s newly formed Investor Advisory Committee. The 18-member committee
was established to provide the SEC with the views of a broad spectrum of
investors on the Commission’s regulatory agenda. Committee members will serve
for a term of two years.
“I am honored to be selected to help advise the SEC as it
works through its regulatory agenda at such a critically important time in the
Commission’s history,” Mr. Kanzer said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to
bring the voice of the socially responsible investor to the Commission’s deliberations.”
During March, Mr. Kanzer participated in meetings organized
by the Social Investment Forum (SIF) with SEC commissioner Luis Aguilar to discuss
Domini and the Social Investment Forum’s public policy goals.
Lisa Woll,
CEO of the Social Investment Forum, said, "The 400-plus members
of the Social Investment Forum are delighted to have someone of
Adam's caliber bringing the views of the socially responsible
investment field to the discussions of the Investor Advisory Committee.”
Visit the SEC’s website for the official announcement.
All committee proceedings will be made public by the Commission.
May 28, 2009
Contact:
Geoff Wisner, Domini Social Investments LLC, Direct:
212-217-1063, Main: 212-217-1100.
Steven Heim, Senior Vice
President & Director of Social Research and Advocacy,
Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, Office: 617-720-5557, Mobile: 617-785-9527
Global Investor Group Asks S&P 100
Companies How They Ensure Rights for Their U.S. Workers
Investors “recognize that constructive and positive labor relations are
critical to a company’s long-term success”
New York, NY – An
international coalition of major institutional investors, managing $757 billion
across the global economy, sent a letter to all S&P 100 companies recently
asking for information on how they protect and enhance labor rights for their
U.S. employees, and how they view the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (S. 560
and H.R. 1409).
The signers of the letter
are signatories to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment
(PRI) and believe that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have a
significant impact on long-term financial returns. Company responses to the
letter will be shared with all participating PRI signatories.
The letter has been
sent to companies such as Bank of America, McDonald's and Lowe's. In it, the
investor group informs S&P 100 companies that “The freedom to form or join
a union of one’s choice or not, and to bargain collectively for the terms of
one’s employment, are fundamental human rights that we as global investors
recognize and respect.”
Steven Heim from Boston Common Asset Management, LLC
explained, “The current debate about the Employee Free Choice Act has
highlighted the need to better understand a company’s position, workplace
policies, and responses regarding unions and collective bargaining, and
determine how companies are positioned in light of the Act and the issues it
raises. This initiative seeks to gather information to identify best practices
and gaps of the largest US corporations in order to generate insights which
will feed into our investment decisions.”
"We
believe it is in each company's long-term best interests to reassess their
policies and procedures to ensure their employees' rights are fully
protected," said Adam Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel at
Domini Social Investments LLC. "We encourage companies to look to the
standards set by the International Labor Organization when they establish a
higher standard than U.S. law, particularly in the areas of freedom of
association and collective bargaining."
"There
is information from a number of sources, including internationally respected
human rights organizations, that raises concerns about gaps between U.S. law
and the ILO conventions, particularly freedom of association. There is a gap
that could create risks for both employees and employers,” said Bennett
Freeman, Senior Vice President of Sustainability Research and Policy at Calvert
Asset Management Company Inc.
“As long-term investors, we want companies to create value
in a sustainable way,” said Ian Greenwood, Chair of the U.K.-based Local Authority Pension Fund Forum.
“Constructive labor relations can be a positive influence on productivity,
foster trust and loyalty, and help attract and retain skilled staff, therefore
this is an area shareholders need to be informed about. We hope this process
will give us a better understanding of how US companies are addressing these
challenges.”
Although
individual investors within the Group may have taken a view on the Employee
Free Choice Act legislation, the group as a whole has itself not formulated an
official position.
A copy of the template letter
can be downloaded here or at Boston
Common Asset Management.
– xxx –
List of
Signatories
Daniel F. Pedrotty,
Director, AFL-CIO Office of Investment, AFL-CIO Employees Staff Retirement Fund
Conrad McKerron,
Director, Corporate Social Responsibility Program, As You Sow Foundation
Michael O’Sullivan,
President, Australian Council of Superannuation Investors
Steven Heim, Senior
Vice President, Director of Social Research and Advocacy, Boston Common Asset
Management, LLC
Bennett Freeman,
Senior Vice President, Sustainability Research and Policy, Calvert Asset
Management Company Ltd.
Michael D.
Underhill, Chief Investment Officer, Capital Innovations, LLC
Michael Quicke,
Chief Executive, CCLA Investment Management Ltd.
Francois Meloche,
Extra Financial Risk Manager, Comite Syndical National de Retraite Batirente
Adam Kanzer,
Managing Director & General Counsel, Domini Social Investments LLC
Dominique Biedermann,
Executive Director, Ethos Foundation
Linda E. Scott,
Consultant, Corporate Governance, Governance for Owners LLP / GO USA Inc.
Stephen R. Brennan,
Principal, Hamilton Lane
My-Linh Ngo,
Associate Director SRI Research, Henderson Global Investors
Colin Melvin, Chief
Executive, Hermes Equity Ownership Services
Jeanett Bergan, Head
of Responsible Investments, Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP) A/S
Ian Greenwood,
Chair, Local Authority Pension Fund Forum
Mike Taylor, CEO,
London Pensions Fund Authority
Greg Sword, CEO,
LUCRF Super
Gary A. Hawton,
Chief Executive Officer, Meritas Mutual Funds
Jay Youngdahl,
Co-Chair, Board of Trustees, Middletown Works VEBA
Luan Steinhilber,
Director of Social Research, Miller/Howard Investments
Michael Kramer, AIF ®, Managing
Partner & Director of Social Research, Natural Investments, LLC
Campbell Watterson, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Newton Investment
Management Limited
Julie Fox Gorte, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Investing, Pax World
Management Corporation
Peter Damgaard Jensen, Chief Executive Officer, Pensionskassernes
Administration (PKA) A/S
Richard W. Torgerson, President & Director of Research, Progressive
Asset Management
Hans Aasnæs, Chief Executive Officer, Storebrand Investments
Stephen Viederman, Finance Committee, The Christopher Reynolds Foundation
Ian Jones, Head of Responsible Investment, The Co-operative Asset
Management
Victor De Luca, President, The Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Lance E. Lindblom, President & CEO, The Nathan Cummings Foundation
Amy Domini, Private Trustee, The Sustainability Group at Loring, Wolcott
& Coolidge
Kathryn O’Neill, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, The United
Church Foundation
Therese Niklasson, Head of Governance and SRI, Threadneedle Asset
Management
Shelley Alpern, Vice President, Trillium Asset Management Corporation
Timothy Smith, Senior Vice President, Environmental, Social and Governance
Group, Walden Asset Management, a division of Boston Trust and Investment
Management Corp.
May 11, 2009
Contact:
Geoff Wisner, Domini Social Investments LLC, Direct:
212-217-1063, Main: 212-217-1100.
Steven Heim, Senior Vice
President & Director of Social Research and Advocacy,
Boston Common Asset Management, LLC, Office: 617-720-5557, Mobile: 617-785-9527
Global Investors Managing $372
Billion in Assets Endorse the Employee Free Choice Act
Investors in the U.S. And Abroad
Consider Passage of the Act an “Economic Imperative”
New York, NY –
Today, an international coalition of major institutional investors, managing
$372 billion across the global economy, sent a letter to Senate and House
leaders endorsing the Employee Free Choice Act (S.
560 and H.R. 1409).
The investor
endorsement brings a new business voice to the debate over U.S. labor law
reform, breaking sharply with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National
Association of Manufacturers and other corporate trade associations lobbying
against the bill.
“As investors, we
believe constructive labor relations are essential for improving productivity,
efficiency and workplace safety,” said Steven Heim, Senior Vice President and
Director of Social Research and Advocacy for Boston Common Asset Management,
LLC. “We believe the proposed legislation would help appropriately
rebalance labor-management relations and better protect workers if they face
unlawful conduct by employers when exercising their workplace rights.”
In their letter, the investors underscored the economic
considerations in their endorsement of the legislation, noting that “the
decline in unionization in the United States, exacerbated by a variety of
anti-union responses from companies and weaker U.S. labor law, has damaged the
fragile relationship between management and employees and depressed the
prospects for sustained economic recovery.”
"The Employee
Free Choice Act is an investment in our shared economic future," said Adam
Kanzer, Managing Director and General Counsel at Domini Social Investments LLC.
"The Act will help to stabilize our economy, both in the United States and
abroad, by establishing a more balanced relationship between labor and
management. Today, American workers are producing more and receiving less. This
is an unsustainable trend that creates material risks for employees, investors
and the global economy. By more effectively protecting workers' fundamental
human rights, the Act would help to reverse these damaging trends."
Says
Michael O’Sullivan, President of the Australian Council of Superannuation
Investors in Melbourne, “The
freedom to form a union is enshrined in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. We want to be sure that the companies we invest in
respect that right and look forward to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act to align U.S. law
more closely with international norms.”
The
endorsers, from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and several countries across
Europe, are signatories to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment
(PRI) and believe that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have a
significant impact on long-term financial returns.
A
copy of the letter to Congress can be downloaded at the following websites: www.domini.com
and www.bostoncommonasset.com.
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List of
Signatories
AFL-CIO
Employees Staff Retirement Fund, Daniel F. Pedrotty, Director, AFL-CIO Office
of Investment
As
You Sow Foundation, Conrad MacKerron, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility
Program
Australian
Council of Superannuation Investors, Michael O'Sullivan, President
Boston
Common Asset Management, LLC, Steven Heim, Senior Vice President, Director of
Social Research and Advocacy
Calvert
Asset Management Company, Inc., Bennett Freeman, Senior Vice President,
Sustainability Research and Policy
Capital
Innovations, LLC, Michael D. Underhill, Chief Investment Officer
CCLA
Investment Management Ltd., Michael Quicke, Chief Executive
Domini
Social Investments LLC, Adam Kanzer, Managing Director & General Counsel
Hamilton
Lane, Stephen R. Brennan, Principal
JMR
Financial, John Richardson, President
Kommunal
Landspensjonskasse (KLP) A/S, Jeanett Bergan, Head of Responsible Investments
LUCRF
Super, Greg Sword, CEO
Meritas
Mutual Funds, Gary A. Hawton, Chief Executive Officer
Merseyside
Pension Fund, Peter Wallach, Head of Merseyside Pension Fund
Middletown
Works VEBA, Jay Youngdahl, Co-Chair, Board of Trustees
Miller/Howard
Investments, Luan Steinhilber, Director of Social Research
Natural
Investments, LLC, Michael Kramer, Managing Partner and Director of Social
Research
Pensions
Investment Research Consultants Ltd., Alan MacDougall, Managing Director
Pensionskassernes
Administration (PKA) A/S, Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO
Progressive
Asset Management, Richard W. Torgerson, President and Director of Research
SEIU
Employees and Affiliates Pension Plans, Stephen Abrecht, Executive Director
Shareholder
Association for Research and Education, Peter Chapman, Executive Director
Storebrand
Investments, Hans Aasnæs, CEO
The
Co-operative Asset Management, Ian Jones, Head of Responsible Investment
The
Sustainability Group at Loring, Wolcott, & Coolidge, Amy Domini, Private
Trustee
Trillium
Asset Management Corporation, Shelley Alpern, Vice President
April 29, 2009
Domini Wins Strong
Vote on Predatory Credit Card Practices
A Domini-sponsored resolution asking Bank of America’s Board of Directors to assess the extent to which
the Bank uses predatory credit card practices gained a preliminary vote of
33.38% at the company’s annual meeting. The Sisters of St. Francis of
Philadelphia joined Domini as co-lead sponsors of the proposal.
Peter Skillern, executive director of the Community Reinvestment
Association of North Carolina presented the proposal at the meeting and read a
statement on Domini’s behalf:
Credit cards offer important
benefits to society. For entrepreneurs
with little or no collateral, credit cards offer a way to finance the start up
of a small business. They can allow young consumers to build a credit history,
making possible a mortgage one day. But somewhere along the road, something has
gone terribly wrong.
Credit cards are now viewed as the enemy, locking consumers into
ever-deepening cycles of debt through excessive penalties, usurious interest
rates and fine-print terms that even educated consumers cannot understand.
The Bank’s recent decision to raise rates on good customers that carry a
balance is indicative of the problem. [Read Domini’s full statement.]
Among other suggestions, the statement
called on Bank of America to put an immediate end to non-default repricing of existing
balances, the practice of raising interest rates on customers that have not
been delinquent in their payments.
The proposal was supported by RiskMetrics,
the largest proxy advisory firm, noting that the bank’s credit card segment
“may be at higher risk of charge-offs and increases in delinquency rates” and a
lack of sufficient disclosure on how the bank will address future regulation.
Domini opposed the reelection of Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis, and
supported a union-sponsored proposal to separate the role of chairman and CEO.
Lewis was forced to step down as chairman of the board after this proposal passed
by 50.34% of the vote. This was the first time that a company in the S&P
500 has been forced by shareholders to strip a CEO of chairman duties,
according to RiskMetrics. Lewis has come under fire for failing to reveal
losses at Merrill Lynch before Bank
of America acquired Merrill. Domini has a standing policy to vote against all
non-independent Board chairs. (View a database of our current proxy
votes.)
Domini also filed a proposal on this topic with American Express, but withdrew the proposal after productive
in-depth meetings with company management. Domini is part of a larger
shareholder campaign to address predatory credit card practices led by MMA
Praxis and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.
As
of December 31, 2008, Bank of America represented 1.05% and American Express
represented 0.79% of the Domini Social Equity Fund’s portfolio. The composition
of the Fund’s portfolio is subject to change. View the Fund’s most recent
Semi-annual report to view a complete listing of the Fund’s portfolio.
March 31, 2009
Amy Domini
Receives Award for Professional Ethics
On March 31, Amy Domini received
Villanova University’s 2009 Praxis Award in Professional Ethics. Recipients
exemplify ethical behavior in their respective fields, promote and encourage
integrity, work toward a greater good, conduct research in the field of ethics,
or influence the practice of ethics through professional works or leadership.
“In its own way,” said Mark
Doorley, director of Villanova’s ethics program, “the Praxis Award in
Professional Ethics celebrates the University’s commitment to a holistic
education. We celebrate people who take seriously their role as a responsible
member of their professional community, or who use their academic position to
advance the conversation about the role of ethics in the professions.”
The Praxis Award in Professional
Ethics has been awarded since 2007. Dooley noted that the first two recipients
of the award had been “outstanding human beings and professionals,” and said,
“I know the same is true of Ms. Amy Domini, particularly her commitment to
socially responsible oversight of her clients’ financial resources. She is not
only a person who has decided to move in this direction herself; her career
exemplifies her commitment to engaging the rest of her profession to recognize
their responsibilities in this arena as well.”