BBT reviews accomplishments in Socially Responsible Investing.

In April the Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) Board of Directors reviewed accomplishments of the organization's Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) program. The SRI program is three-pronged, with a first component to screen potential investments according to guidelines consistent with Annual Conference statements, a second component of activism through shareholder actions, and a third component of community development through investments.

Each BBT investment fund manager follows screening guidelines to invest in companies whose activities "support the creation and maintenance of a society consistent with the policy statements of the Church of the Brethren Annual Conference," according to BBT. Guidelines exclude stock or bond investments in organizations that generate significant revenue from gambling, alcohol, tobacco, or defense contracts. This excludes about 60 of the S&P 500 companies, said Nevin Dulabaum, director of Communications and Information Services.

BBT investors and pension holders need not worry about losing potential returns because of such screening practices, Dulabaum said. Over the past ten years, BBT funds generated returns on par with those of major market benchmarks. "This means that our investors gave up nothing to the markets in order to invest in a socially responsible manner," said Will Thomas, director of Foundation Operations.

Most SRI activity focuses on the second component, shareholder actions. BBT has been lead filer of three shareholder initiatives in 2003-2004: YUM! Brands was asked to adopt a smoke-free policy in company-owned restaurants; Caterpillar was asked to report on the impact HIV/AIDS will have on its African operations and on the company's response to the pandemic; and Xcel Energy was asked to report on efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Boston Common Asset Management, a BBT investment manager, also pursued other initiatives using BBT shares to gain access. In response to a resolution from BBT, Burlington Resources adopted a policy on dealing with indigenous peoples in areas where the company proposes to extract natural resources and BBT is working with the company to make the policy more responsive to the concerns of local people. For more than 20 years, Union Carbide and later Dow Chemical have faced significant claims arising from the gas leak in Bhopal, India, and BBT has filed a resolution with Dow requesting a report on how settling the claims will affect the company. BBT also was a co-filer in a successful effort asking Procter & Gamble to include a fair-trade coffee product in its offerings. The company now offers fair-trade coffee through its Millstone brand.

Other such issues tackled by BBT include human rights policy at Occidental Petroleum, labor rights at Exxon Mobil, greenhouse gas emissions at Apache Corporation, environmental disclosure and other issues at Newmont Mining Corporation, instruments containing mercury at McKesson Medical, HIV/AIDS reporting at American International, marketing of violent video games to children by Target Corporation, extractive industries review recommendations at the World Bank, and licensing of HIV/AIDS drugs by GlaxoSmithKline.

A third component in the SRI ministry, the Community Development Investment Fund, has been available to pension members and foundation clients for a year. These investments are placed with nonprofit lenders and are used to finance affordable homes and small businesses and to help fund agencies working directly with disadvantaged populations and communities.

Source: 6/04/2004 Newsline
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