
ESG+ PROXY VOTING
30+ Years of ESG Expertise
As You Sow is the nation’s non-profit leader in shareholder advocacy. Now, through our partnership with iconik, you can have your shares automatically voted to match As You Sow’s voting guidelines, which support the long-term economic best interest of all stakeholders.About As You Sow
Founded in 1992, we harness shareholder power to create lasting change by protecting human rights, reducing pollution, and aligning investments with values.
- Environment:Climate Change; Ocean Plastics; Pesticides; Electronic Waste; Petrochemicals
- Social:Racial Justice, DEI & Gender Equality; Excessive CEO Pay; Sexual & Reproductive Health
- Governance:Hate Speech; Anti-Slavery; Concealment Clauses; Worker’s Rights; Political Spending
Our voting policy is driven by long-term research and corporate engagement
How it works
Autovoting is simple to set up, whether you have a financial advisor or are managing your own investments.
Sync
- We help you configure your email to automatically send a copy of your shareholder ballots to iconik.
Autovote
- iconik votes your shares to match As You Sow’s voting profile, notifying you when it’s done. You retain full voting control and can change individual votes in each ballot if desired. See the FAQs for more details.
Review Reports
- As election results are reported, you can see how your voting power is having impact in the areas you care about.
Investor Case
The As You Sow shareholder voting profile is designed to address key environmental, social, and governance risks faced by public companies. These risks can negatively impact shareholder value.
How does it impact shareholder value?
Companies that disregard environmental, social, and governance concerns may be more susceptible to regulatory fines, consumer boycotts, added regulation, litigation, loss of key employees, and reputational risk. They may find it difficult to acquire financing at competitive rates and attract and retain the best and brightest workforce. As they fall further behind, it may become increasingly difficult and expensive to catch up, hampering their ability to thrive economically especially as the extractive economy winds down and a new regenerative economy based on justice and sustainability emerges.
Our reports differentiate between leaders and laggard companies in order to quantify systemic risk. This provides a higher level of fiduciary duty; looking at how the action of some corporations may negatively impact others. Climate change is a clear example of this as actions by oil and gas companies are linked to extreme weather events, wreaking havoc on supply chains, and damaging crops and infrastructure. Companies depending on these supply chains are forced to take on new costs, translating into additional risk for investors
For many people, risks to investments isn’t the most important issue, but rather the risk to the environment and society. Faced with an existential climate crisis and growing injustice many investors are using their power as shareholders to compel corporate action to limit global warming and address key social justice issues.
We are happy to have you join the movement of empowered shareholders!
Frequently asked questions
- Does this require any changes to my investments?
- No, iconik simply helps you vote your shareholder ballots.
- What brokerages does this work with?
- It works with every brokerage, regardless of where shares are held, as long as you are able to receive email notices of shareholder elections.
- How does this affect my voting rights?
- You retain your voting rights. By using this service, you are giving iconik the limited right to vote your shares to match your values and preferences. You can override these votes or discontinue the service at any time.