The Sierra Club Foundation has partnered with voting technology platform iconik to offer a simplified pathway for individuals and institutions to engage with companies they own shares in. Through this collaboration, investors can vote their proxies alongside the Sierra Club Foundation for free, with just the click of a button. The goal is to empower investors to shape a more sustainable and just future by aligning their values with their investment decisions.
Pedro Henriques da Silva, director of Shifting Trillions at Sierra Club Foundation, shared insights on how this partnership came to be and how it can be used to advance environmental justice. The voting solution offered by SCF and iconik allows investors to access the Sierra Club Foundation’s shareholder voting policy through the iconik platform. Investors can sign up and choose to have iconik vote their shares directly or access recommendations to vote manually, all free of charge.
The Sierra Club Foundation’s voting policy focuses on key issues such as environmental injustice, climate change, and biodiversity loss. By leveraging iconik’s Voteforge technology and conducting thorough research, the foundation ensures that its proxy votes align with its values and mission. The platform also enables investors to vote against proposals that are not in line with the foundation’s values, providing a way for them to take a stand on important issues.
Voting alongside policies like the Sierra Club Foundation’s can potentially have a positive impact on investment returns. By encouraging companies to strengthen their environmental management practices, investors can help improve their performance and mitigate risks related to climate change and social impact. Not exercising voting rights as a shareholder can pose risks to investors, making it essential to align investment decisions with values and objectives.
For investors looking to deepen their engagement and move into impact investing, there are various resources and organizations available to support them. By learning about shareholder engagement, engaging with companies on important topics, and seeking advice from financial advisors specializing in impact investing, investors can take steps towards aligning their values with their investment strategies. Additionally, there are initiatives and groups like the Transformative 25 and outsourced chief investment offices that cater to investors interested in impact investing.
In a rapidly changing landscape where environmental and social issues pose systemic risks to the global financial system, aligning investment decisions with values is crucial. The partnership between the Sierra Club Foundation and iconik offers a simplified way for investors to have a say in how companies approach important issues, ultimately working towards a more sustainable and just future. By empowering investors to leverage their voices as shareholders, this collaboration aims to support efforts to protect assets, mitigate risks, and align investments with values and objectives.
