Oct. 17, 2018
As a retired widow on a small retirement plus a small amount of Social Security, I am dependent on the people who handle my investments being honest, conscientious people. I don't have the knowledge to micromanage every stock I own; I rely on my investment team to do that. While I have told my personal advisors in the company to emphasize socially and ecologically positive investments, I have no way of finding out if they do. And I have even less ability to investigate individual corporations in my array of investments. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should require corporate managers to be honest with their shareholders about how they are planning for the long term. Shareholders have a right to know if oil executives are trying to buy off politicians to slow progress on addressing climate change. They also have a right to know whether the company is cultivating diversity on its board or moving profits abroad to avoid paying taxes in the U.S. These are just a few examples of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks that the SEC should require public companies to disclose to their shareholders and the public. Thank you for considering my comment. Teresa Hickman