Walden Asset Management (WAM) is a division of Boston Trust and Investment Management Company. Founded in 1975, it has been described as a "leader in socially responsible investing

Socially responsible investing

Socially responsible investing , also known as sustainable, socially conscious, or ethical investing, describes an investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social good....

" (SRI).. Walden Asset management employs in-house research to make its investments and also invests in commingled funds. The firm operates in as a subsidiary of Boston Trust & Investment Management Company.

History

WAM was founded in 1975, shortly after the start of the modern SRI movement that was spurred by the Vietnam War. Since then, it has become a major player in the SRI community. Notable actions of WAM include its participation in the 1982 creation of the nation's first mutual fund with South African anti-apartheid screens and its 1992 initiation of a proxy policy of voting against boards of directors without women and minorities which was later adopted by many other investment firms. In 1994, WAM was the only investment manager to testify before the President's Glass Ceiling Commission, encouraging the full corporate disclosure of diversity information.

In 2004, WAM and its parent company, Boston Trust and Investment Management, became fully employee owned.

Socially Responsible Investment Strategies

WAM primarily encourages corporate responsibility and responsiveness through its share holdings. WAM also utilitizes other forms of shareholder activism such as screening portfolios for companies that don't meet SRI standards, communicating directly with companies about relevant issues, introducing and voting on shareholder resolutions, and engaging in community development investing.

WAM is a leading sponsor of the "say on pay

Say on pay

Say on pay is a term used for a rule in corporate law whereby a firm's shareholders have the right to vote on the remuneration of executives.Often described in corporate governance or management theory as an agency problem, a corporation's directors are likely to overpay themselves because,...

" concept, under which a company's stockholders would have an approval right over the remuneration of the company's executives.

External links

• Walden Asset Management
• Bloomberg Businessweek