Every VC needs an education in ESG

(GreenBiz) When it was founded roughly 23 years ago, Salesforce was unique in many ways, not just for its core product — software delivered only via the “cloud” — but also for its early embrace of what has become the Pledge 1% movement. It’s a model that designates 1 percent of the company’s equity, revenue,…

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Reporting Quality of ESG Issues High on Boardroom Agendas

(Banking Exchange) A new Deloitte survey of 300 senior finance, legal, and sustainability executives shows that the growing expectation for high-quality ESG reporting information is high on the boardroom agenda. Findings from Deloitte revealed that leaders are working toward “more reliable and timely” data, with investments in technology, controls design and implementation resources, and a…

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With ESG on the Rise, Asset Managers Target the Murky Underbelly of Supply Chains

(Institutional Investor) These risks are not trivial: As of 2017, 40.3 million people worldwide were victims of modern slavery, which generates $150 billion in profits annually in the United States alone, according to the International Labor Organization, a subsidiary of the United Nations.  But it’s not easy for investors to reliably get information about companies’…

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Executive Pay Tied to ESG Goals Grows as Investors Demand Action

(Bloomberg Law) Chipotle, McDonalds, Caterpillar, and other companies are increasingly tying executive pay to environmental, social, and governance goals as more investors, regulators, and activists scrutinize corporate behavior. Executive pay is usually tied to meeting key financial metrics, such as profit margins or return on equity for shareholders. Now, companies are calculating portions of executive…

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Labor Department digging into what action to take with ESG

(Pensions & Investments) The Department of Labor under the Biden administration has made environmental, social and governance investing a key focus during its first year-plus in office and is now seeking public input on a wide array of questions around climate change and retirement savings that could lead to further guidance or requirements, industry sources…

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DOL has a new vision for ESG: Which stakeholders need to take notice?

(Reuters) Big changes may lie ahead for retirement investment stakeholders as the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues to focus on the role that climate change, and other social and governance factors, may have in impacting retirement security under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). In addition to proposing a…

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The FTC’s new enforcement weapon spells death for algorithms

(Protocol) The Federal Trade Commission has struggled over the years to find ways to combat deceptive digital data practices using its limited set of enforcement options. Now, it’s landed on one that could have a big impact on tech companies: algorithmic destruction. And as the agency gets more aggressive on tech by slowly introducing this…

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