Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment
Consistent with the fiduciary obligations of the New York City Pension Funds’ Boards of Trustees, the Office of the Comptroller’s Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment team promotes sound corporate governance at portfolio companies – including accountability in the boardroom, responsible executive compensation, and sustainable business practices – in order to protect and enhance the long‐term value of the New York City Pension Funds’ investments. By encouraging portfolio companies to follow prudent governance and sustainable business policies – including responsible labor, human rights and environmental practices – the Comptroller’s Office works to safeguard the retirement savings of the employees and retirees of the City of New York and deliver sustainable investment results over the long-term.
Principles of Good Governance
The New York City Pension Funds promote five basic principles at the companies in which they invest:
- Accountability: Portfolio companies should adopt policies and practices by which the board of directors is accountable to shareowners.
- Investor Rights: Shareowners should have strong investor rights and protections.
- Aligned Interests: Directors and executives should have incentives that align their interests with those of shareowners.
- Transparency: Financial markets work more efficiently when companies provide shareowners with accurate, thorough, and timely information on material matters.
- Sustainability: Companies should effectively manage financial, governance, social, environmental, and other material risks to long-term performance and advance policies and practices that create sustainable shareowner value.
Proxy Voting and Engagement
The New York City Pension Funds, and the Comptroller’s Office acting on their behalf, actively exercise their rights as investors to advance principles of good corporate governance, including through:
- Proxy Voting: Responsibly voting proxies and advocating sound corporate governance in line with Corporate Governance Principles and Proxy Voting Policies, as adopted by the Funds’ trustees.
- Company Engagement: Actively monitoring and engaging companies on their environmental, social and governance policies, practices and disclosures, including by filing shareowner proposals.
- Regulatory Advocacy: Advocating for regulatory and policy reforms to strengthen shareowner rights, improve corporate disclosure, and improve the integrity and sustainability of financial markets and the economy.
- Active Collaboration: Collaborating with other long-term investors, both formally as active members of numerous institutional investor associations, and informally, to advance sound governance and sustainable business practices at individual companies and across the market.
- Legal Action: Exercising the right to pursue legal action to recover losses on behalf of the Fund’s beneficiaries and other affected investors in select cases of egregious fraud, misconduct, or corporate malfeasance.
Proxy Voting Dashboard
We seek to impact governance in several ways, including through proxy voting, engagement with management, internal research on governance, and participation in industry surveys and events.
Key Resources
The Office of the Comptroller actively collaborates with other institutional investors on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds to advance sound governance practices in the market. As part of this cooperation, the Comptroller’s Office and/or the New York City Funds, individually or collectively, are affiliated with the following corporate governance associations:
- Council of Institutional Investors
- CERES, Investor Network on Climate Risk
- United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment
Press Releases
- New York City Comptroller Lander and Pension Funds Call on Chipotle to Adopt a Policy of Noninterference with Worker Unionizing Efforts
March 31, 2023 - Starbucks Shareholders Vote to Support Worker Rights Assessment Proposal
March 29, 2023 - Independent Proxy Advisors Glass Lewis and ISS Recommend Shareholders Vote YES on Proposal Requesting Starbucks Worker Rights Assessment
March 16, 2023 - Starbucks Investors Urged to Vote for Assessment of Workers’ Rights Commitments by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander and Coalition of Investors
February 22, 2023 - Statement from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander on Filing of Shareholder Proposals on Workers’ Rights at Major U.S. Companies
February 7, 2023 - NYC Comptroller Lander and City Pension Funds Call on Major U.S. and Canadian Banks to Set Absolute GHG Emissions Targets for High Emitting Sectors
January 24, 2023 - New York City Comptroller, Pension Funds, and Coalition of Investors Announce Agreement with Apple on the Rights of Workers to Organize
January 17, 2023 - New York City Comptroller Lander and the City’s Pension Funds Release 2022 Shareholder Initiatives Postseason Report
December 21, 2022 - Comptroller Lander and Coalition of Investors File Shareholder Proposal at Starbucks on the Rights of Workers to Organize
September 19, 2022 - Comptroller Lander, Amalgamated Bank, NYC Pension Trustees, and Elected Leaders Urge Full Implementation of Merchant Category Code for Gun and Ammunition Retailers
September 12, 2022 - Statement from Comptroller Lander on Approval of a Merchant Category Code for Gun and Ammunition Retailers
September 9, 2022 - Comptroller Lander and Coalition of Investors Urge Apple to Respect Workers’ Rights
September 7, 2022 - NYC Comptroller Lander, Mayor Adams, Pension Trustees, Elected Leaders Call for Credit Card Companies to Improve Tracking of Gun Sales
August 30, 2022 - NYC Public Pension Funds Urge Credit Card Company Transparency Regarding the Identification of Sales at Gun and Ammunition Stores
August 30, 2022 - Shareholder Votes Show Support for Stronger Safeguards Against Insider Trading
July 26, 2022 - Comptroller Lander Op-Ed in The New York Times: Investors Deserve to Know the Climate Risks Their Assets Face
June 15, 2022 - In a Stinging Rebuke, Amazon Shareholders Vote 27% of Outside Shares Against Key Board Director
May 27. 2022 - NYC Comptroller Lander Delivers Remarks at Amazon, Inc.’s Annual Shareholder Meeting
May 25, 2022 - Major Companies to Disclose Additional Board Director Diversity and Inclusion Data After Successful Engagement with NYC’s Public Pension Systems
May 12, 2022 - Independent Proxy Advisor Glass Lewis Joins New York City and State Pension Funds in Urging Shareholders to VOTE NO on the Re-election of Amazon Board Director Judith McGrath
May 11, 2022 - NYC Comptroller Lander and Trustees Announce Agreements Reached on Key Sustainability and Climate Issues With Leading Energy and Industrial Companies
April 28, 2022 - Statement from NYC Comptroller Lander on Proxy Votes Urging Major Financial Institutions to Stop Financing Fossil Fuels
April 25, 2022 - New York City and State Pension Funds Launch “VOTE NO” Campaign Against Against the Re-election of Two Amazon Board Directors Responsible for Oversight of Human Capital Management
April 21, 2022 - SEC Denies Amazon’s Attempt to Block a Vote on NYC Retirement Systems’ Shareholder Proposal on Health and Safety Disparities
April 14, 2022 - NYC Comptroller and Pension Fund Trustees Announce Agreements With 11 Companies to Disclose Annual Workforce Diversity Data
March 31, 2022 - Statement from NYC Comptroller Lander on Proposed SEC Climate Disclosure Rule
March 21, 2022
Letters
- Investor Letter to Starbucks Board
June 8, 2023 - NYC Comptroller Lander’s Letter to JP Morgan Chase Shareholders
April 7, 2023 - NYC Comptroller Lander’s Letter to Goldman Sachs Shareholders
April 3, 2023 - Institutional Investor Letter to Amazon Director Jamie Gorelick
March 31, 2023 - NYC Comptroller Lander’s Letter to Bank of America Shareholders (signed along with NYS Comptroller DiNapoli)
March 31, 2023 - NYC Comptroller Lander SEC comment letter regarding Rule 10b5-1 and insider trading
July 28, 2022 - NYC Comptroller Lander SEC comment letter regarding the enhancement and standardization of climate-related disclosures for investors
June 17, 2022 - Institutional Investors’ Letter to Amazon Shareholders
April 22, 2022 - NYC Comptroller Lander SEC comment letter regarding private fund advisers
April 21, 2022 - NYC Comptroller Lander letter to Unilever Chair Nils Anderson
April 5, 2022