NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A group of the world’s most influential leaders in finance and business today announced initiatives that their organizations will undertake to create long-term value and drive inclusive economic growth. The commitments were announced at the 2016 Conference on Inclusive Capitalism in New York City, where CEOs, investors, policymakers, economists and academics representing more than $40 trillion in assets under management gathered to address the withering public trust in the principles and institutions of capitalism.
Among the 32 organizations that have announced commitments during the conference, State Street Global Advisors released a set of guidelines for corporate boards to protect long-horizon investors when engaging with activists. The guidelines are based on research that points to a recent rise in corporate boards rapidly entering into settlement agreements with activists without consulting other shareholders.
EY announced that it is undertaking an effort – as part of its purpose Building a Better Working World – to catalyze and lead the development of meaningful long-term value metrics through strong collaboration with all relevant stakeholders, including academics, the investor community, regulators, business leaders, fund managers and policy makers, to regain trust in markets and encourage sustainable growth. EY also commits to invest in, and report on, the long term wellbeing of its stakeholders; its employees, communities, alumni, supply chain and regulators.
“After just three short years, the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism is moving beyond ideas to working with our conference participants to develop concrete actions they will take that will improve long-term performance and make a significant difference for society at large,” said Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the CEO and founder of the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism. “This is a momentous statement of intent by the most prominent corporate executives and financial leaders who are committed to building a more fair and equitable global economy. We recognize there is much work to be done and are thrilled to be on this journey with the great group of executives gathered in the room today who commit to continue to work with us during the coming year.”
Mark Weinberger, EY Global Chairman and CEO, commented: “Working closely with our fellow stakeholders, EY is committed to developing meaningful long-term value metrics to rebuild trust in markets and help drive sustainable growth. We hope these metrics will better equip the global business community to navigate successfully the obstacles and opportunities of the future.”
A full list of commitments can be found on the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism website. They include commitments from:
- AB
- Aberdeen Asset Management
- Aetna
- Alberta Investment Management Corporation
- Amundi Asset Management
- Aviva
- AXA
- AXA Investment Mangers
- atp
- BlackRock
- Cbus
- The Container Store
- Canada Pension Investment Board
- DekaBank
- Ecolab
- EY
- FMR LLC (Fidelity)
- Hermes Investment Management
- HSBC
- Kaidi Ecological Environment Technology Co., Ltd.
- MasterCard Incorporated
- Nasdaq
- Neste
- New Zealand Superannuation Fund
- Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority
- PepsiCo
- Siemens USA
- State Street Global Advisors
- The Swiss Re Group
- Unilever
- Vanguard
- Wespath Benefits and Investments
The Conference on Inclusive Capitalism is focusing on ideas and initiatives that can help restore capitalism as an engine of broadly-shared prosperity and rebuild public trust and social cohesion. Throughout the day, conference participants will share their perspectives through an onsite poll presented by EY. The results can be viewed in real-time by following the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism on Twitter at @inclusivecap and EY at @EYnews and @Mark_Weinberger. The public is also invited to weigh in on the poll on the EY’s social media channels: Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, are providing keynote remarks during the event. Other participants include BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb, Norwegian Finance Minister Siv Jensen, CalSTRS CEO Jack Ehnes, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, Unilever CEO Paul Polman and Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini.
Most sessions at the invitation-only conference are taking place under the Chatham House Rule to create an environment where ideas can best be discussed honestly and openly. Keynote speeches, public commitments, and overall results will be shared with the public via the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism website (www.inc-cap.com) and social media platforms.
About The Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism
The Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism is a global not-for-profit organization that was founded in 2014 by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, the Chairman of E.L. Rothschild LLC. The organization was established to engage leaders across business, government and civil society in their efforts to make capitalism more equitable, sustainable, and inclusive. The Coalition develops practical thought leadership and convenes the annual Conference on Inclusive Capitalism to bring together renowned leaders from the world’s largest and most influential asset owners, asset managers and corporations to positively influence the future of capitalism. The organization works with other like-minded groups through our Allied Efforts program and extensive public outreach.
For more information:
The Coalition’s website
The
Coalition’s Twitter
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Coalition’s LinkedIn
The
Coalition’s Facebook
Speeches
from previous conferences
Perspectives
from Coalition members
