NJWOLLMAN at manchester.e
12-31-1969, 07:00 PM
Hello:
Any help on the below campaign would be much appreciated, as it could lead
to many millions of dollars going into community development projects, as
well as other socially responsible business ventures. We have been involved
in a tough battle with college pension giant TIAA-CREF. It took five years
to get them to establish a socially responsible fund--now the second
largest-- and now we are about three years into another battle to get that
fund to be more proactive in its investing; i.e., to do such things as
community investment.
Even if you are not a participant in their fund, any help is appreciated.
Let them figure out who participates in the fund!. Help can range anywhere
from a simple brief email to TIAA-CREF to more heavy involvement at
national level planning--see below. Many people have gotten involved in
different ways. If you are a member of a group and could ask people in the
group (via a listserve or otherwise) to email TIAA-CREF or otherwise help,
that would be great; and, as many have already done, groups can formally
endorse the effort--basically, encouraging members to contact TIAA and
sending a letter to the pension fund CEO. The campaign has garnered
coverage in many media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Worth
magazine, and the New York Post (you can imagine the headline on that
one!), as well as a number of insider publications such as Pensions and
Investments.
Because of the prominence of TIAA-CREF, if they make the move we propose,
it might lead to other institutional investors doing likewise and thus much
more money going into community development. The below gives the basics of
the effort and our web site gives more details if you so desire. If you
want to get involved at all, email us and we can add you to the mailing
list for occasional updates. Thanks, Neil
================================================== ================================================== ================================================== ==
SOCIAL CHOICE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: CAMPAIGN FOR A NEW TIAA-CREF
TELL TIAA-CREF, THE PENSION FUND FOR COLLEGE FACULTY, THAT YOU SUPPORT
"POSITIVE INVESTING" FOR THE SOCIAL CHOICE ACCOUNT! SEND EMAIL TO
FEEDBACK@TIAA-CREF.ORG, PHONE (800) 842-2733, OR WRITE TO 730 THIRD
AVE., NY, NY 10017-3206. You need not be a TIAA-CREF participant to help
the effort. (To circulate a petition, contact the campaign at the
address below.)
Despite the fact that over 80 percent of TIAA-CREF's Social Choice
Account participants favor "seeking out for investment companies [that]
have an outstanding record of good performance on social issues, rather
than rely on negative screens," the company has refused to do just that.
This was revealed in a survey conducted by TIAA-CREF--the Teachers
Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities
Fund--which also found that only 3 percent oppose this investment
strategy. (Because of TIAA-CREF's non-responsiveness, the campaign has been
featured in numerous media stories, including write-ups in the Wall Street
Journal, Worth Magazine, and various newspapers which picked up the AP
story on the effort.)
In response to TIAA-CREF's resistance, college faculty launched a
nationwide campaign to persuade the group to begin "positive investing" of
their pension funds.We are calling for 5-10% of assets in the Social Choice
Account, a
socially responsible fund, to be invested in companies and other
financial institutions (e.g., community development corporations) that
are models of social and environmental responsibility. This would mean
$200-400 million invested in companies or financial institutions with,
for instance, exemplary relations with employees or local communities.
TIAA-CREF is the nation's largest private pension system. In 1989,
we successfully lobbied the group for the creation of the Social Choice
Account, which screens out companies that do business in tobacco,
alcohol, nuclear energy or weapons, or the military; pollute the
environment; or operate in Northern Ireland without endorsing the
McBride Principles against religious discrimination in employment. It is
now the largest socially responsible account in the country.
For a brochure and other campaign materials, contact Social Choice
for Social Change: Campaign for a New TIAA-CREF, MC Box 135, Manchester
College, 604 E. College Ave., North Manchester, IN 46962,
(219)982-5346/5009, or e-mail NJWollman@Manchester.edu or
AAFuller@Manchester.edu. We will add you to our mailing
list for occasional updates. Visit the web site at
http://ARES.manchester.edu/department/PeaceStudies/njw/disclaim.html.
If you do contact TIAA-CREF or take other actions,
please let us know so we can monitor campaign activities. Thank you.
================================================== ==============
Neil Wollman, Psychology Department, MC Box 135
Manchester College, North Manchester, IN 46962
219-982-5346; fax 219-982-5043
njwollman@manchester.edu
"I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental
consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of
any organizations for which I work." (Pledge for college graduates)
http://ARES.manchester.edu/department/peaceStudies/gpa.html
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list
Any help on the below campaign would be much appreciated, as it could lead
to many millions of dollars going into community development projects, as
well as other socially responsible business ventures. We have been involved
in a tough battle with college pension giant TIAA-CREF. It took five years
to get them to establish a socially responsible fund--now the second
largest-- and now we are about three years into another battle to get that
fund to be more proactive in its investing; i.e., to do such things as
community investment.
Even if you are not a participant in their fund, any help is appreciated.
Let them figure out who participates in the fund!. Help can range anywhere
from a simple brief email to TIAA-CREF to more heavy involvement at
national level planning--see below. Many people have gotten involved in
different ways. If you are a member of a group and could ask people in the
group (via a listserve or otherwise) to email TIAA-CREF or otherwise help,
that would be great; and, as many have already done, groups can formally
endorse the effort--basically, encouraging members to contact TIAA and
sending a letter to the pension fund CEO. The campaign has garnered
coverage in many media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Worth
magazine, and the New York Post (you can imagine the headline on that
one!), as well as a number of insider publications such as Pensions and
Investments.
Because of the prominence of TIAA-CREF, if they make the move we propose,
it might lead to other institutional investors doing likewise and thus much
more money going into community development. The below gives the basics of
the effort and our web site gives more details if you so desire. If you
want to get involved at all, email us and we can add you to the mailing
list for occasional updates. Thanks, Neil
================================================== ================================================== ================================================== ==
SOCIAL CHOICE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: CAMPAIGN FOR A NEW TIAA-CREF
TELL TIAA-CREF, THE PENSION FUND FOR COLLEGE FACULTY, THAT YOU SUPPORT
"POSITIVE INVESTING" FOR THE SOCIAL CHOICE ACCOUNT! SEND EMAIL TO
FEEDBACK@TIAA-CREF.ORG, PHONE (800) 842-2733, OR WRITE TO 730 THIRD
AVE., NY, NY 10017-3206. You need not be a TIAA-CREF participant to help
the effort. (To circulate a petition, contact the campaign at the
address below.)
Despite the fact that over 80 percent of TIAA-CREF's Social Choice
Account participants favor "seeking out for investment companies [that]
have an outstanding record of good performance on social issues, rather
than rely on negative screens," the company has refused to do just that.
This was revealed in a survey conducted by TIAA-CREF--the Teachers
Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities
Fund--which also found that only 3 percent oppose this investment
strategy. (Because of TIAA-CREF's non-responsiveness, the campaign has been
featured in numerous media stories, including write-ups in the Wall Street
Journal, Worth Magazine, and various newspapers which picked up the AP
story on the effort.)
In response to TIAA-CREF's resistance, college faculty launched a
nationwide campaign to persuade the group to begin "positive investing" of
their pension funds.We are calling for 5-10% of assets in the Social Choice
Account, a
socially responsible fund, to be invested in companies and other
financial institutions (e.g., community development corporations) that
are models of social and environmental responsibility. This would mean
$200-400 million invested in companies or financial institutions with,
for instance, exemplary relations with employees or local communities.
TIAA-CREF is the nation's largest private pension system. In 1989,
we successfully lobbied the group for the creation of the Social Choice
Account, which screens out companies that do business in tobacco,
alcohol, nuclear energy or weapons, or the military; pollute the
environment; or operate in Northern Ireland without endorsing the
McBride Principles against religious discrimination in employment. It is
now the largest socially responsible account in the country.
For a brochure and other campaign materials, contact Social Choice
for Social Change: Campaign for a New TIAA-CREF, MC Box 135, Manchester
College, 604 E. College Ave., North Manchester, IN 46962,
(219)982-5346/5009, or e-mail NJWollman@Manchester.edu or
AAFuller@Manchester.edu. We will add you to our mailing
list for occasional updates. Visit the web site at
http://ARES.manchester.edu/department/PeaceStudies/njw/disclaim.html.
If you do contact TIAA-CREF or take other actions,
please let us know so we can monitor campaign activities. Thank you.
================================================== ==============
Neil Wollman, Psychology Department, MC Box 135
Manchester College, North Manchester, IN 46962
219-982-5346; fax 219-982-5043
njwollman@manchester.edu
"I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental
consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of
any organizations for which I work." (Pledge for college graduates)
http://ARES.manchester.edu/department/peaceStudies/gpa.html
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list