|
In
votes to be cast at upcoming shareholder annual meetings, the
California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) will vote
against the entire board of directors at companies that do not
have at least one woman, the $318 billion retirement system said
in a press release.
It also will vote against nominating committee members of boards
that are not at least 30% female. Those standards could
especially pressure non-U.S. or European company boards, said
Aeisha Mastagni, who oversees CalSTRS' stewardship strategies,
in an interview.
"It's 2022 and we've been talking about the value of diversity
for long enough," she said.
In addition, CalSTRS said it will vote against directors at
companies that have not disclosed direct and indirect greenhouse
gas emissions, known as Scope 1 and 2 emissions. A rule recently
passed by U.S. Securities regulators, which must still be
finalized, has similar requirements.
Some climate activists have also pressed companies to go further
and to disclose emissions from suppliers and customers, known as
Scope 3. Mastagni said that would be a good regulatory change
but the first two types at least will help investors judge
corporate emission reduction plans.
Mastagni said the new policies would likely increase the
frequency of CalSTRS' votes against directors from 54% last
year.
Other big asset managers such as Goldman Sachs also have called
for more boardroom diversity and climate disclosures, as
investors pour money into funds that use environmental, social
and governance (ESG) criteria to pick securities.
CalSTRS is the second-largest U.S. public retirement system
after the $476 billion California Public Employees' Retirement
System. Both have helped push reforms such as last year's drive
that elected dissidents to Exxon Mobil Corp's board.
(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
[© 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
