Comptroller Stringer, NYC Funds Call On Major Companies To Disclose Supplier Diversity Metrics

(New York, NY) – Today, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer released a letter his office sent on behalf of the $163 billion New York City Pension Funds asking sixteen companies to disclose data about their supplier diversity programs. Companies that received the letter include Google parent company Alphabet, Costco, Dow Chemical, Facebook, Goldman Sachs, Monsanto, Twenty-First Century Fox, Starbucks, and Visa.

“Working with a broader pool of diverse suppliers helps businesses manage risk, save money, and capitalize on emerging opportunities to create long-term value,” Comptroller Stringer said. “While more and more companies are making supplier diversity part of their business plan, shareowners deserve real transparency about these initiatives. Disclosure should be a market standard, so investors can see which programs are the most effective and push companies they own to do better.”

Supplier diversity programs include proactive efforts by companies to use minority, women, LGBTQ, and veteran-owned businesses as suppliers. These policies support historically-underutilized communities, and are another tool for businesses to create long-term value.

The letter urges companies to annually disclose both qualitative and quantitative performance data, which sheds light on supplier diversity program effectiveness, either online or in a sustainability report. Specifically, companies were asked to:

1. Disclose the number of their diverse suppliers and the annual spend in both real terms and as a percentage of total supplier spend, preferably by category;
2. Establish and disclose quantitative performance goals for their supplier diversity program, and report annual progress toward those goals; and
3. Describe the ways in which supplier diversity goals are reinforced throughout the organization, including, for example, through:

a)Oversight by senior management and the Board of Directors, and
b)Specific compensation incentives for employees, managers, and senior executives.

In 2014, Comptroller Stringer sent a similar letter to twenty of the Pension Funds’ largest holdings. Since then, more than half have increased disclosure. Specifically, eight firms – Apple, Altria, Pfizer, Qualcomm, US Bancorp, United Technologies, 3M, and ConocoPhillips – will now disclose quantitative data.
In addition to the New York City Funds’ efforts, supplier diversity disclosure has been gaining steam across the market. Beyond the companies that received letters from the Comptroller’s Office in 2014, at least ten S&P 100 companies have recently begun to disclose quantitative supplier diversity program performance data. These companies include AbbVie, BNY Mellon, Capital One, Eli Lilly, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Exxon Mobil, Ford Motor Company, Halliburton, MetLife, and Raytheon.

“Industry leaders are beginning to release more robust supplier diversity data, but the pace of change is too slow. Diversity isn’t just a buzzword – it’s a business necessity, and we need real disclosure today,” Comptroller Stringer said.

“District Council 37 supports Comptroller Stringer’s push to increase disclosure in the supplier diversity programs of all companies where NYCERS has holdings.  It is essential that NYCERS use its influence to further economic growth by increasing business opportunities for minority, women, LGBTQ, and veteran-owned businesses as suppliers. District Council 37 and our national union, the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) strongly believe that public pension systems such as NYCERS should use their market power to drive economic growth and opportunity that will benefit all members of our society,” Henry Garrido, District Council 37 Executive Director and NYCERS Trustee, said.

The sixteen companies that received letters from Comptroller Stringer this week represent less than one percent of the nearly 3,500 U.S.-based public companies the Pension Funds invest in, but their combined investment value tops $3.2 billion.

To view a sample of the letters that were sent, please click here.

The companies that received the letter, along with the approximate share values as of the middle of September are:

Comptroller Stringer serves as the investment advisor to, and custodian of, the New York City Pension Funds. Additionally the Comptroller serves as trustee to four of the five funds. The New York City Pension Funds are composed of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System.

In addition to Comptroller Stringer, the New York City Pension Funds’ trustees are:

New York City Employees’ Retirement System: Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Representative, John Adler (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Letitia James; Borough Presidents: Gale Brewer (Manhattan), Melinda Katz (Queens), Eric Adams (Brooklyn), James Oddo (Staten Island), and Ruben Diaz, Jr. (Bronx); Henry Garrido , Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; John Samuelsen, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

Teachers’ Retirement System: Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Appointee, John Adler; Chancellor’s Representative, Raymond Orlando, New York City Department of Education; and Debra Penny, Thomas Brown and David Kazansky, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Representative, John Adler; New York City Finance Commissioner Jacques Jiha; New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neil (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edward D. Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Louis Turco, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captains Endowment Association.

New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Representative, John Adler; New York City Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Jacques Jiha; James Slevin, President, Edward Brown, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; John Farina, Captains’ Rep.; Paul Ferro, Chiefs’ Rep., and Jack Kielty, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Thomas Phelan, Marine Engineers Association.

The Board of Education Retirement System trustees are:  Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s Representative Raymond Orlando; Mayoral: Issac Carmignani, T. Elzora Cleveland, Gary Linnen, Vanessa Leung, Lori Podvesker, Stephanie Soto, Miguelina Zorilla-Aristy; Benjamin Shuldiner, Laura Zingmond (Manhattan BP), Fred Baptiste (Brooklyn BP), Debra Dillingham (Queens BP) and Kamillah Payne-Hanks (Staten Island BP); and employee members Joseph D’Amico of the IUOE Local 891 and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.

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