THE POWER OF THE PROXY

You may be a novice investor, or you may be vastly experienced, but in all probability you aren’t really aware of the power you have as a shareholder. I wasn’t aware myself until I was introduced to my current job. Shareholders can have significant impact on the behavior of huge corporations on issues as diverse as human rights, diversity in the workplace and the board, carbon emissions, and much more. Shareholders have the right to engage corporate management—sometimes escalating to the filing of shareholder resolutions, which is one of the many tools available to investors who wish to promote more environmentally and socially responsible behavior on the part of companies in which they invest.