Social investing firm releases proxy guidelines

Domini Investments and its clients are working together to help make a positive impact

For investors who want to put their money where their conscience is, social investing may be the answer.

Recently, New York-based Domini Social Investments, a company that manages more than $1.8 billion in assets for individual and institutional investors, released its fifth annual Proxy Voting Guidelines and Social Screening Criteria.

The company also reissued a challenge to the mutual fund management industry to follow its example in publishing the actual votes cast for the companies in its portfolio.

Domini works with investors who are interested in creating positive change in society by using social and environmental criteria in their investment decisions, according to a company release.

This year's edition of the proxy voting guidelines describes Domini's voting policy on more than 80 types of resolutions ranging from environmental reporting to labor relations at home and abroad to executive compensation.

The booklet includes the firm's social screening criteria, describing in detail how the Domini 400 Social Index was constructed and maintained, and how the firm evaluates the social and environmental records of publicly traded corporations.

The 40-page booklet also presents a historical overview of Domini Social Investments' seven-year shareholder activism program, including a listing of every shareholder resolution the firm has ever filed 46 in all.

The booklet is posted on the firm's Web site at www.domini.com.

In addition to publishing its proxy voting guidelines, Domini last year became the first mutual fund manager in the country to publish the actual votes it cast for each company in its portfolio.

"Over the past five years, we've seen assets in mutual funds grow from $2.81 trillion to $6.77 trillion," said Amy Domini, founder and managing principal of Domini and manager of the Domini Social Equity Fund, in the release. "Mutual funds now hold nearly $4 trillion in equities and play a significant role in the governance of American corporations through the substantial voting power they wield."

"Last year we became the first mutual fund manager in the country to publish its proxy voting decisions. We put them on our Web site for all to see. One year later, we are still waiting for the industry to take up our challenge and follow our lead," she added.

Visitors to the Domini Web site can choose any of the 400 companies in the Domini Social Equity Fund's portfolio, see a brief description of the issue being voted on and view Domini's vote.

The site is updated continuously as proxy materials for each company become available. The firm stated that it intends to post its votes approximately two weeks prior to each company's annual meeting.