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Offerings Include:
Proxy Season, Special
Reports, Access to Research and Reports
Proxy Season
Briefing papers in
the first quarter of each year offer comprehensive overviews of key
issues raised by shareholder activists, explaining the public policy
context for shareholder proposal campaigns and how companies are responding
to them. Reports in 2010 cover human rights, labor rights and equal
employment opportunity, climate change, product toxicity, natural
resource management, political contributions, sustainability reporting
and animal welfare. Primarily for members, a select number of these
papers may be made available to the public.
Engagement Monitor, an online tool
for members, includes detailed, timely tracking of shareholder
proposals. It identifies the resolution proponents and status of
each proposal during proxy season—including meeting dates,
if the proposals are omitted because of Securities and Exchange
Commission staff decisions or withdrawn by the proponents, and timely
reporting of any final voting results. The Engagement Monitor includes
a search tool that allows customized filtering and sorting of the
data, with links to related Si2 reports and source materials.
Action reports for members
are impartial, in-depth company-specific reports on social and environmental
policy shareholder resolutions coming to votes; initial coverage
is for the U.S. market but Si2 anticipates expansion into appropriate
international markets. The reports include a concise accounting
and analysis of the issue as it relates to the company, the company’s
performance on the issue and how it affects the company’s
operations, plus comparisons of the company’s conduct to other
firms, particularly industry peers. These reports do not start their
analysis from a pre-defined voting recommendation, but instead include
a careful survey of the information required for determining an
investor’s considered vote reflecting its own proxy voting
guidelines or overall mission. Si2 analysts will provide pre-publication
drafts to companies and proponents to solicit feedback and ensure
accuracy, and will attempt to interview representative stakeholders
with different views on the issues at stake.
Si2 Quarterly is an online
journal that eschews the ubiquitous daily news coverage of typical
industry newsletters and instead puts key developments in their
context with informed analyses and forecasts. Sections cover developments
at the Securities and Exchange Commission and other applicable regulatory
bodies, as well as existing and emerging sustainability issues such
as ethics, labor and human rights and the environment. Excerpts
from the journal, provided to members, may be made available to
the interested public. Preliminary issues in 2010 include a Proxy
Season Forecast in the first quarter and a retrospective report
in the summer.
The Si2 Blog updates members
on breaking news about corporate controversies, including shareholder
proposal developments at the SEC and elsewhere and other relevant
corporate engagement efforts by activist investors.
Special Reports
Outside its coverage of proxy season developments during the first
half of each year, Si2 will produce special reports for members
and the general public. These reports, based on original research,
will expand on proxy season coverage and allow readers delve more
deeply into the issues flagged by shareholder activists.
Potential topics include controversies over water scarcity and its
place in the corporate responsibility debate, labor and human rights
controversies in corporate supply chains for merchandise and commodities,
seafood suppliers’ conduct and the sourcing of glass—among
others. Institutional investors continue to face scrutiny from their
stakeholders, such as student interest in endowment transparency
and accountability relating to private equity investments in real
estate, which may prompt reports on these topics. Further, as part
of the rewriting of financial regulations in the wake of the economic
crisis, pressure also is mounting for mandated disclosure in U.S.
securities filings of environmental and social issues; Si2 reports
may examine how companies and investors grapple with the newly activist
regulatory agenda.
With guidance from its board and members, Si2, will conduct research
on one or more of the issues noted above each year. These reports
will be made available to the public at large free of charge or
for accessible prices. We anticipate grant funding from major foundations
and other sources to underwrite these projects, which may be undertaken
in collaboration with other organizations
Access to Research and
Reports
All Si2 research and publications are available for proxy season
2010, starting in January, through the members-only web portal on
this website. Access is available to institutional investors who
have joined Si2 through paying an annual membership fee, which entitles
them to multiple passwords and provides access to all Si2 publications.
Please contact us for pricing information, which is based on a sliding
fee scale tied to assets under management or endowment size.
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