Round-table on Corporate Governance, Sustainability, & Institutional Investors
by Finance Club
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A company's choices about corporate governance determine the strategic direction of the company, and numerous high-profile corporate failures can be traced in part to poor corporate governance decisions. Yet, many investors overlook corporate governance when assessing the long term value of companies. Discussion will begin with an overview presentation on the basics of corporate governance. Discussion to follow regarding numerous cases which illustrate how governance and ESG insights can be vital to investing results, possibly including:
Hewlett-Packard: The past 15 years
Alphabet: A hybrid approach to corporate governance?
Canadian Pacific/Pershing Square: Proxy Fight
Valeant/Allergan battle and aftermath: Barbarians at the Gates redux
VW Emissions Scandal: "E" or "G"?
Hershey and the Trust: failed suitors (Wrigley, Mondelez...)
Wells Fargo: Board accountability & proxy access
Where
Wells Fargo
2220 Piedmont Avenue, S430, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
Speakers
John Wilson
Cornerstone Capital Group
John has over 18 years of experience in socially responsible investing and corporate governance. He was Director of Corporate Governance for TIAA-CREF, the largest private pension system in the United States with assets under management of over $500 billion. In this role, he oversaw the voting of proxies at CREFÔÇÖs 8,000 portfolio companies and engaged in dialogue with corporate boards and management to promote sustainability and good corporate governance. He also writes and presents widely about the relevance of social responsibility to investment performance for academic, corporate and investor audiences. Prior to joining TIAA-CREF in early 2008, John served as Director of Socially Responsible Investing for Christian Brothers Investment Services, an investment advisor to Catholic institutions. In that role, he led the companyÔÇÖs shareholder advocacy, social screening, and proxy voting functions as well as participating in the companyÔÇÖs outreach to religious communities around the United States.
As Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Business School, John is also a member of the Advisory Council to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. He is a past Vice-Chair of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and was a founding advisory committee member of the International SRI Working Group, a think tank serving social investing professionals. John has also served on the Global Reporting InitiativeÔÇÖs Human Rights Working Group and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment Clearinghouse Steering Committee. He has an MBA and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University and a BA in English from Georgetown University.