Leslie P. Norton, Barrons.com
- Jun 29, 2020
- 4 min
New Labor Department Guidance Takes Aim at ESG Investing
A new proposal by the Labor Department will require retirement-plan fiduciaries to choose investments “based solely on financial considerations” and is aimed to slow the interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, analysts say. There is $10.7 trillion in private pension plans. The DOL administers and enforces Erisa, the federal law governing private retirement and health plans. The proposal will have a 30-day comment period. In an op-ed published in The
www.Groom.com
- Jun 29, 2020
- 6 min
DOL Proposes Rule to Crack Down on ESG
On June 23, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a proposed regulation (the “Proposed Rule”) defining plan fiduciaries’ duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) when considering economically targeted investments or those that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors. The Proposed Rule embodies some of the prior guidance and adds new recordkeeping requirements setting forth how plan fiduciaries can meet their
Admin@US SIF
- Jun 29, 2020
- 3 min
US SIF Releases Statement On Department Of Labor Rulemaking Related To ERISA And ESG Considerations
The DOL proposal is out of step with professional investment managers, who increasingly analyze ESG factors precisely because of risk, return and fiduciary considerations. WASHINGTON, D.C., June 24, 2020 – Yesterday, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rulemaking to revise the fiduciary standard for ERISA-governed retirement plans. The proposal attempts to clarify when retirement plan fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteri
By United Steelworkers (USW)
- Jun 26, 2020
- 3 min
USW Backs BlueGreen Alliance National Manufacturing Agenda
PITTSBURGH, June 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) union, along with other members and leaders of the labor-environmental partnership BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), today launched the group's ambitious agenda to rebuild American manufacturing while fighting the effects of climate change. The BGA, founded in 2006 by the USW and the Sierra Club, now includes more than a dozen unions and environmental organizations committed to fighting for good jobs, clean infra
Tom Croft
- Jun 24, 2020
- 7 min
Adjusting to a Post-Coronavirus Economy Requires Just Transitional Workforce Strategies
The crush of layoffs and business closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc for workers who were already facing a structurally vulnerable workforce and employment system. The combined magnitude of the current public health, economic, and political crises provides an opportunity for bold and robust interventions that will make the United States a more resilient country moving forward. Any massive job creation push to achieve a just transition to economic recov
Tim Strangleman, University of Kent
- Jun 24, 2020
- 5 min
Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor Working-Class
Millions of people in the UK have been furloughed during the COVID pandemic, but the government has been paying up to 80% of many workers’ salaries. As Tim Strangleman writes in Working-Class Perspectives this week, the pandemic shutdowns and the furlough scheme encourage us to take seriously the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). Over the next decades, economic, technological, and social changes are likely to leave many workers jobless, much like those whose jobs have b
Heartland Capital Strategies
- Jun 24, 2020
- 7 min
Investing in a More Inclusive, Resilient New Reality
By Tom Croft, Heartland Capital Strategies and David Keto, SRI Group Working families face a unique set of crises today. It has been an exhausting, anxious, and, for some, heartbreaking few months. Shockingly, forty-five million workers lost their jobs and the UI rate shot to the mid-teens—the worst since the Great Depression. The COVID-19 crisis has devastated many economic sectors and entire communities. The protests around the tragic killing of George Floyd and other Blac
Gary Stewart, Fobes.com
- Jun 10, 2020
- 7 min
Knee On The Neck: What Investors Can Learn From ‘Black Lives Matter’
Is it controversial that I’m tired of Ahmaud Arbery, Christian Cooper, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd? That’s not quite right. It’s more accurate to say that I’m just tired, full stop. It’s hard to watch the videos. I know how they’ll end before I press play. Being a minority is not easy for anyone, but being black has always meant cleaning up behind those at the back of the queue. Growing up, I knew many people saw me as inferior and even sub-human. My Auntie Joy would coun
Fiona Reynolds, UN-PRI
- Jun 10, 2020
- 2 min
PRI blog Responsible investors must unite for racial justice
For months the human and economic devastation from the COVID-19 pandemic has been hitting ethnic minority communities around the world with disproportionate force. Now, in the wake of the crisis, demonstrations have reverberated across the United States and the world after yet another brutal killing of a black person—George Floyd—in police custody. These protests against entrenched racial injustice are focussed on exposing systemic inequalities which are so deeply and painful
David Brancaccio and Candace Manriquez Wrenn
- Jun 10, 2020
- 5 min
Why eliminating racial inequities is key for the post-COVID-19 economy
Racial economic disparities are front and center in the United States right now, as protesters take to the streets to call for equal justice for Black people, and the coronavirus continues to kill disproportionate numbers of people who are Black and brown. The “Marketplace Morning Report” has been talking to experts on how we should “reimagine” the economy after COVID-19. Narrowing racial economic disparities will be imperative going forward, says Andre M. Perry, a fellow in