Governance

Australian Ethical management survive general meeting vote

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 27 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
Shareholders of Australian Ethical have voted to keep the existing board and executive management in place, rejecting a series of resolutions put to a general meeting.

Women make gains on corporate boards

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 22 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
The percentage of women on ASX200 boards has risen to 13.9%, but it is the state-owned corporations of Queensland and South Australia that have the highest representation of women on boards, with 38.4% and 49.1%, respectively, according to the latest ...

ACSI may name companies with poor sustainability disclosure

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 15 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
The vast majority of ASX200 companies do not provide a sufficient level of disclosure on sustainability risk and disclosure "continues to be of questionable quality," according to research from the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).

Australian Ethical Investments faces EGM board spill

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 1 JUN 2012  |  NEWS
A group of dissatisfied shareholders are seeking to spill the entire board of fund manager Australian Ethical Investments at an extraordinary general meeting called for 21 June.

Disruptive innovation, ESG factors pose media sector risk

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 25 MAY 2012  |  NEWS
Listed media companies are impacted by ethical and governance issues as well as industry-wide disruptive innovations, and investors should research carefully to avoid potential value traps, according to AMP Capital.

Fund management bodies oppose ASX share placements proposal

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 23 MAY 2012  |  NEWS
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) and the Financial Services Council (FSC) are opposing a proposal by the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) to allow small to mid-cap companies to issue discounted new shares to investors via placements.

Perpetual to extend ESG dashboard to fixed income space

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 18 MAY 2012  |  NEWS
Investment manager Perpetual will continue to roll out its dashboard report approach to embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into investment decisions, including further reports on its universe of equities and preparing ...

Skills shortage in oil and gas sector a material ESG risk

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  FRIDAY, 11 MAY 2012  |  NEWS
Oil and gas companies are exposed to skills shortages in their workforce, and that exposure and companies' strategic responses pose risks to health and safety, to the environment, and to capital expenditure projects for exploration and production, according ...

SAP: sustainability for innovation as well as cost reduction

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 9 MAY 2012  |  NEWS
SAP, the business management software provider, has integrated sustainability metrics into its corporate strategy for both internal cost reductions and as a source of corporate innovation, using a stakeholder body of executives and customers to gather ...

LGS audit finds ASX has higher carbon, lower ESG risk

RACHEL ALEMBAKIS  |  WEDNESDAY, 2 MAY 2012  |  NEWS
Local Government Super (LGS) has conducted a carbon and ESG audit of its equity portfolios and found that while domestic Australian equities are more carbon intensive, they have a lower ESG risk than international peers.