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Toyota shares closed up 3.4%, outperforming the 1.2% gain in the Nikkei index (.N225). BOARD INDEPENDENCENew York City Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement the Toyota board was not adequately independent. The New York comptroller's office oversees a pension system with $243 billion in assets under management. Those funds held 6.7 million shares in Toyota Group companies, including Toyota Boshoku (3116.T) and Toyota Tsusho (8015.T) as of end March. The New York pension system has also urged both Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N) to move rapidly toward electrification and to disclose more about their lobbying on vehicle standards.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Glass Lewis, Toyoda, CalPERS, Brad Lander, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Maki Shiraki, Kevin Krolicki, Jamie Freed, Christopher Cushing, Leslie Adler Organizations: Toyota Motor Corp, California Public Employees, New York, Toyota, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Nikkei, The, Toyota Group, Ford, General Motors, Lexus, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, New York City, York, Tokyo

One of them, Glass Lewis, recommended shareholders vote against re-electing Toyoda, citing what it said was his responsibility for the lack of a sufficiently independent board. Toyota on Friday did not immediately comment on the votes against the re-election of Toyoda. The New York comptroller's office oversees a pension system with $243 billion in assets under management. BOARD INDEPENDENCENew York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the Toyota board was not adequately independent, in a statement explaining the vote by the funds it oversees. The New York pension system has also urged both Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N) to move rapidly toward electrification and to disclose more about their lobbying on vehicle standards.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Glass Lewis, Toyoda, CalPERS, Brad Lander, Elon, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Maki Shiraki, Kevin Krolicki, Jamie Freed Organizations: Toyota Motor Corp, California Public Employees, New York, Toyota, Tokyo Stock Exchange, The, New, Ford, General Motors, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, New York City, York, New York, Tokyo

One of them, Glass Lewis, recommended shareholders vote against re-electing Toyoda, citing what it said was his responsibility for the lack of a sufficiently independent board. CalPERS, which declined to comment, is the largest U.S. public pension fund with some $450 billion in assets under management. The New York City pension funds held 6.7 million shares in Toyota Group companies, including Toyota Boshoku (3116.T) and Toyota Tsusho (8015.T) as of end March. BOARD INDEPENDENCENew York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the Toyota board was not adequately independent, in a statement explaining the vote by the funds it oversees. The New York pension system has also urged both Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N) to move rapidly toward electrification and to disclose more about their lobbying on vehicle standards.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Glass Lewis, Toyoda, CalPERS, Brad Lander, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Maki Shiraki, Kevin Krolicki, Jamie Freed, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Toyota Motor Corp, California Public Employees, New York, Toyota, Tokyo Stock Exchange, The, New, Toyota Group, Nikkei, Ford, General Motors, Lexus, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, New York City, York, Tokyo

☆ We need a CEO focused on Tesla, not Twitter or SpaceX: NYC Comptroller Brad Lander
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe need a CEO focused on Tesla, not Twitter or SpaceX: NYC Comptroller Brad LanderA group of 17 Tesla investors sent an open letter to the board accusing the company of mismanagement. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss his decision to sign on as one of the investors.

☆ The messy, high-stakes world of private equity's fossil-fuel dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Most major private-investment firms are working to cut down on emissions their portfolio companies send into the atmosphere. It's also set targets to get three-quarters of its majority-owned power-and-energy portfolio companies' emissions that they generate directly and indirectly covered by Paris-aligned climate goals by 2025. A growing number of private-equity firms' pension-fund limited partners are under pressure themselves to either invest around environmental, social, and governance matters or shun investing through those lenses altogether. Firms' plans with their upstream investments tend to draw the most attention because they're involved in drilling for new oil and gas. If you're a private-equity firm and you continue to make new upstream investments, I don't believe you have a Paris-aligned plan.

☆ Biden's EV push: EPA set to propose strict new auto pollution limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBiden's EV push: EPA set to propose strict new auto pollution limitsHosted by Brian Sullivan, “Last Call” is a fast-paced, entertaining business show that explores the intersection of money, culture and policy. Tune in Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC. Brad Lander, New York City comptroller, and Vivek Ramaswamy, Strive Asset Management co-founder, join the show to discuss the White House's electric vehicle push.

Companies BlackRock Inc FollowBOSTON, April 5 (Reuters) - New York City pension leaders will press external fund managers, including private market fund managers, on Wednesday for details on their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. Public, and private market managers that have faced less pressure on climate issues to date, run most of the roughly $240 billion in New York City pension fund assets. Boards overseeing the majority of that money have approved new expectations for those managers, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said, which will be announced on Wednesday. Lander urged BlackRock Inc last fall to take stronger environmental steps such as phasing-out high emitting assets. Lander said the plans recently approved by New York City pension boards extend similar calls to other external managers, including those that manage the 25% of pension assets held in fixed income and the 25% in private markets.

☆ Starbucks shareholders want more information about the company’s anti-union efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Starbucks’ investors have voted in favor of an independent review of the company’s aggressive anti-union efforts. The assessment would include remedies if it finds that Starbucks has broken its own stated commitment to workers rights. Starbucks workers rally in celebration of the first anniversary of the union's founding on December 9, 2022 in New York City. Over the past year and a half, Starbucks has been waging a bitter fight against unionization efforts. During a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the company’s labor practices on Wednesday, one former employee said he was wrongfully fired after organizing.

[1/2] Starbucks workers attend a rally as they go on a one-day strike outside a store in Buffalo, New York, U.S., November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario//File PhotoNEW YORK, March 29 (Reuters) - Starbucks shareholders approved a proposal for the coffee chain to conduct an independent assessment of its labor practices as it contends with hundreds of newly unionized U.S. cafes, according to voting results filed on Wednesday. The city's public pension funds and a coalition of other shareholders, who combined hold about 2.2 million Starbucks shares, proposed the assessment. "It is clear from the vote result in the proposal that our investors share our commitment to our partners," Starbucks said in its regulatory filing disclosing the results. The Seattle-based company said it will use findings of the review to "understand how we can best support our partners."

☆ ESG is about preventing risk, not bringing returns, says NYC comptroller
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailESG is about preventing risk, not bringing returns, says NYC comptrollerBrad Lander, New York City Comptroller, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the pushback against anti-ESG pushback, if Sen. Mike Braun means to be prevent New York City pension funds from shareholder engagement and more.

Jan 24 (Reuters) - Shareholder resolutions filed by New York City's top pension official will ask top Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Bank of America (BAC.N) to set stricter 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for portfolio companies. The new resolutions ask banks including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) and JPMorgan to commit to reducing emissions in their energy lending and underwriting. Lander cited plans outlined last year by Citigroup (C.N) for emissions across its energy loan portfolio to drop 29% by 2030 from 2020. Currently the other three banks have goals to reduce the "emissions intensity" of their financing, a measure of emissions relative to output that climate activists say does not go far enough. Representatives for JPMorgan, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs declined to comment on the resolutions.

It said 80% of its close to $8 trillion in assets are in its index funds, which primarily attract retail investors. Vanguard's biggest competitors, BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and State Street Corp's (STT.N) asset-management arm, rely more on institutional investors including pension funds and foundations. Many retail investors are also interested in matters like climate change, but prioritize them less in building retirement portfolios, said Rosenbluth and other industry analysts. A FINRA Investor Education Foundation study of retail investors last March found only 9% of respondents held ESG investments. A big factor behind this gap is retail investors' lack of familiarity or knowledge about ESG products, the study found.

☆ New images show harrowing scenes from inside New York's notorious Rikers Island jail, including prisoners in filthy and life-threatening situations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Newly obtained images show harrowing scenes inside New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail. The photos show a prisoner left to sit in their own feces and another being confined in a shower stall. A prisoner who was held in a decontamination shower stall at Rikers Island jail for nearly 24 hours. Still, despite the high spending, the Rikers images show extensive decay and dilapidation of the facilities, including broken floors, ceilings, and fire-singed doors. NYC Board of CorrectionImages also show rotten food, including moldy bread and fruit.

☆ Are ESG ETFs a gimmick? The debate surrounding the transparency and social agendas of sustainable investing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-08 | by ( Noah Sheidlower | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"What ESG investing is, is very simply put, an incorporation of publicly available data into investment processes," Noack said. Small but controversialSome investors like Noack have pointed out that debates surrounding ESG investing may be getting more attention than they deserve. However, grouping all ESG funds into one classification is too wide-ranging, Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, said in the same segment. The SPDR S&P 500 ESG ETF (EFIV) tracks an index designed to select S&P 500 companies meeting ESG criteria, while the Xtrackers MSCI USA ESG Leaders Equity ETF (USSG) corresponds to the performance of its underlying index. The Xtrackers S&P 500 ESG ETF (SNPE) , for instance, doesn't target the 25% worst S&P 500 companies from an ESG perspective of each industry group.

☆ BlackRock Takes Heat From New York City Over Climate Stance
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Angel Au-Yeung | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The official responsible for New York City’s public pension funds is pressing BlackRock to recommit to achieving net zero emissions across its investment portfolio. In a letter Wednesday to BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink , New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the asset manager’s voting record in the 2022 proxy season and recent public statements have him concerned that BlackRock is backtracking on its climate commitments.

☆ New housing laws around the country could give renters alternatives to cash security deposits. Here are 5 startups that could see a windfall.
▼ + stars: | 2020-02-21 | by ( Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The rising cost of rent has prompted some states like New York, Oregon, and California to retool their rent laws. The high upfront cost of a security deposit can dissuade some renters from moving into a new location. Cincinnati recently passed a "Renter's Choice" law, which required landlords of a certain size to provide alternatives to security deposits. Rental properties typically charge both the first month's rent and a one-month's rent security deposit, which puts many apartments out of reach for a median American. A new slew of "renter's choice" laws have been hitting the desks of local, state, and national politicians, offering renters the choice between a traditional security deposit or security deposit insurance.

Persons: Bernie Sanders, Ankur Jain, Scott Stringer, Stringer, Bill de Blasio, Ben Carson, Mike Rudoy, Rudoy, Reichen Kuhl, he's, Kuhl Organizations: Democratic, Federal, Consumer Finances, Legislators, U.S . Department of Housing, Urban Locations: New York , Oregon, California, Cincinnati, of New York, New York, New York City, Virginia, New Hampshire, Reichen

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