[ad_1]
To the editor:
As a staff member at Brown University, I was pleased to see that the university began offering a new ESG fund for employee retirement benefits. I would like to thank the Office of Benefits and the University Retirement Planning Committee for their work in bringing this welcome step forward. I also commend Sunrise and her Brown’s work in promoting the creation of such options.
I was particularly interested in this news because I serve on the board of the Earth Quaker Action Team. Earth Quaker Action Team is a Philadelphia-based environmental activist group that targets corporations on the theme of climate justice. However, he was disappointed to learn that the university’s chosen fund, the FTSE Social Index Fund Admiral, is managed by investment management company Vanguard.
The fund has strong features compared to other Vanguard funds and Brown’s other retirement options, but received mixed reviews from Fossil Free Funds, a website that evaluates the climate impact of various investment funds. is. Vanguard Funds received a ‘D’ rating for fossil fuel financing and a ‘C’ rating for fossil fuel insurance contracts. But the problem is deeper.
Vanguard is the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels. Additionally, a 2023 report by Majority Action found that Vanguard consistently had the worst record in shareholder voting on resolutions on issues such as racial equity, organized labor, and political spending disclosure, across a variety of measures. It turned out that it held. For these reasons, the global Vanguard SOS campaign has prompted Vanguard to change direction.
I am proud that EQAT is now part of that global campaign. In addition to expanding direct action, EQAT is calling on supporters around the world to pledge to “Never Vanguard.” Unfortunately, Vanguard has recently chosen to go in the wrong direction. For example, bowing to right-wing pressure and withdrawing from the already weak and unenforceable Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative.
I’d like to use ESG options for my retirement, but I can’t endorse Vanguard funds. I hope that the Retirement Planning Committee will continue its efforts to provide sustainable retirement planning for faculty and staff and offer them different options than Vanguard.
Ben Safran
Director, Kogut Institute for the Humanities
[ad_2]
Source link
