{"id":571880,"date":"2021-06-23T14:51:57","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T18:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=571880"},"modified":"2021-06-23T14:52:14","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T18:52:14","slug":"activist-investors-are-seizing-companies-to-push-social-justice-measures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/activist-investors-are-seizing-companies-to-push-social-justice-measures\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Activist Investors\u2019 Are Seizing Companies To Push Social Justice Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Factivist-investors-are-seizing-companies-to-push-social-justice-measures%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=571880&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1127656.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>A new wave of woke investors is taking Wall Street by storm.<\/p>\n<p><span>For the past half-century, \u201cactivist investors\u201d have sought to reform troubled companies by intimately involving themselves in upper management. First, the investors acquire large portions of the company\u2019s publicly traded stock. Next, the investors rally support from other shareholders and the public by issuing an \u201cactivist letter\u201d outlining proposed reforms. After gaining board seats and enacting productive changes, the investors then aim to sell their shares and walk away with a profit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Prominent hedge fund managers \u2014 such as Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn \u2014 have attempted to cause companies like Target and Western Union to pivot their strategies. In 2008, for instance, Icahn purchased shares in Yahoo to try and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/azdailysun.com\/business\/icahn-to-yahoo-board-sell-or-leave\/article_623afa9e-7d56-529d-b705-82237788aeb9.html\"><span>oust<\/span><\/a><span> board members who rejected Microsoft\u2019s generous buyout offer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Today, however, \u201cactivist investors\u201d are \u2014 quite literally \u2014 \u201cactivists.\u201d Beyond increasing firms\u2019 profits, fund managers are pressuring companies resistant to systemic change into adopting \u201cEnvironmental, Social, and Governance\u201d (ESG) criteria that require firms to behave with social consciousness in mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Take, for example, the recently-launched <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/engine1.com\/\"><span>Engine No. 1<\/span><\/a><span> \u2014 an investment firm that believes \u201ca company\u2019s performance is greatly enhanced by the investments it makes in workers, communities, and the environment.\u201d In December, the venture secured a 0.02% stake in ExxonMobil and sent an activist <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/reenergizexom.com\/materials\/letter-to-the-board-of-directors\/\"><span>letter<\/span><\/a><span> to the Board of Directors, alleging that the oil and gas giant \u201cmust change\u201d with the times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Among other causes, Engine No. 1 blames ExxonMobil\u2019s poor performance on hesitancy to pursue \u201cgrowth areas like renewables,\u201d even though \u201csuch investments are likely to deliver lower returns to shareholders than oil and gas projects.\u201d Though the investors do not expect ExxonMobil to \u201cdiversify overnight,\u201d they believe that pursuing green energy programs has \u201cmore than cosmetic value to investors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Three weeks ago, Engine No. 1 successfully <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2021\/06\/02\/activist-firm-engine-no-1-claims-third-exxon-board-seat-.html\"><span>clinched<\/span><\/a><span> three of ExxonMobil\u2019s twelve board seats. But Engine No. 1\u2019s activism is far from over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Wednesday, the company launched an exchange-traded fund (ETF) \u2014 a representative basket of shares for certain public companies \u2014 called the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/etf.engine1.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/files\/engine_no-1_transform-500_prospectus.pdf\"><span>Transform 500<\/span><\/a><span>. Listed under the ticker symbol \u201cVOTE,\u201d the fund \u201cseeks to encourage transformational change at the public companies within its portfolio through the application of proxy voting guidelines and dialogue with management of the portfolio companies.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Berkshire Hathaway, Tesla, and JPMorgan Chase constitute a large portion of the ETF, which <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/etf.engine1.com\/\"><span>manages<\/span><\/a><span> $5 million in total assets. One share currently trades for slightly over $50.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>New firms are by no means the only ones pressuring companies to consider ESG.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Legal &#038; General Investment Management \u2014 one of the oldest funds in London, which manages $1.68 trillion in assets \u2014 endorsed activist shareholders <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2021\/may\/24\/influential-investor-joins-shareholder-rebellion-over-shells-climate-plan\"><span>frustrated<\/span><\/a><span> over Shell\u2019s failure to reach its climate transition targets. The investment firm voted in favor of a shareholder resolution drafted by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.follow-this.org\/\"><span>Follow This<\/span><\/a><span> \u2014 a group of activist investors attempting to change oil companies so that they conform to the Paris Climate Agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A group of lawyers familiar with activist investing <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/corpgov.law.harvard.edu\/2021\/05\/29\/shareholder-activism-and-esg-what-comes-next-and-how-to-prepare\/#1\"><span>wrote<\/span><\/a><span> in Harvard Law School\u2019s Forum on Corporate Governance that the trend could soon take an explicit turn toward social justice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhile environmental and climate-related topics are currently the most likely among ESG topics to be integrated into activist campaigns, a further stage in ESG-themed activism is the incorporation of social- and social-justice-related concepts into activism strategies,\u201d they wrote. \u201c2020 was a major year in the United States and worldwide for bringing matters of social justice and public health to the foreground of public interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The attorneys add that the \u201ccurrent direction of the Biden administration indicates that it is becoming a business risk for companies to not have processes in place to monitor and ameliorate disproportionate effects of their carbon footprint on minority communities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With these headwinds in mind, the report advises companies to \u201cwork ESG concepts and talking points into their emergency plan for shareholder activism preparedness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new wave of woke investors is taking Wall Street by storm.For the past half-century, \u201cactivist investors\u201d have sought to reform troubled companies by intimately involving themselves in upper management. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2281124,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1127656.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018Activist Investors\u2019 Are Seizing Companies To Push Social Justice Measures","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-571880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1127656.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"\u2018Activist Investors\u2019 Are Seizing Companies To Push Social Justice Measures","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}