eBriefing

Environmental, Social & Governance Issues Knocking on Boardroom Door

By April Hall
 
ConocoPhillips Co. director Jody Freeman sees environmental, social and governance issues, or ESG, as part of the board’s key responsibilities and an essential part of strategic planning.
 
“We play the same oversight and fiduciary role on behalf of shareholders on ESG issues as we do on everything else,” says Freeman, who sits on the public policy committee of the energy company.
 
Encouraging corporations to consider the greater good is nothing new. It has had many iterations and names, i.e. corporate responsibility, socially responsible investing and “the triple bottom line.” ESG is the latest salvo, broadening the concept to include everything from gender inequality to bribery to climate change; and it’s gaining momentum in Corporate America.
 

Top 10 Board Actions for 2018

By Betsy Atkins

What should be on the first boardroom agenda for 2018?

Start by asking yourself a few tough questions, before your investors do.

A High-Risk, High Return Pay Orientation

By Stephen Charlebois, Michael Haimson and Rachel Bender
 
Can an aggressive pay-for-performance reorientation help businesses meet goals?
 
A financial services firm with revenues in excess of $1 billion utilized a price-vested options approach with rigorous goals to align with the company’s high-growth strategy.
 
The strategy was successful, and after the stock price nearly doubled by the end of the performance period, the CEO realized values in excess of 10 times what the value was when the options were granted to the executive.
 
 Introducing a “high-risk, high-reward” pay design that allows companies to provide outsized wealth creation opportunities for outsized performance.

Family Business Generational Wealth

Feb. 7 - 9
Developing Wealth Strategies for the Family and the Business

Family Business Generational Wealth 2018, now in its second year, is the only wealth management conference for active family businesses and enterprises.

Family Business Generational Wealth, from Family Business magazine, is a different kind of wealth management conference, created by families for families, focused on real-world solutions to wealth management across generations, presented by family business executives and shareholders themselves.

This conference is ideal for:

• Family business CEOs/Chairs/CFOs
• Family trust directors and executives
• Family business shareholders
• Family council leaders and members
• Family office leaders

ESG Study Finds Transparency, Performance Issues

By Thomas Singer

Gender diversity, climate risk and sustainability-tied compensation are three key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues that directors need to be thinking about next year.

Those are just some of the findings of a recently released Conference Board study examining the transparency and performance of S&P Global 1200 companies regarding ESG issues.