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Calvert Issues Corporate Responsibility Ratings On 100 Largest Companies
Calvert Issues Corporate Responsibility Ratings On 100 Largest Companies
Published 02-06-06
Submitted by Calvert
The Calvert Ratings indicate a company's performance in five separate issue areas including the environment, workplace, business practices, human rights, and community relations. The Calvert Ratings and methodology are available on www.calvert.com.
A recent study commissioned by Calvert, conducted by The Segmentation Company, a division of Yankelovich, supports the notion that investors are interested in corporate responsibility information. For example, 62% of investors said they would like to have information ranking companies in terms of their social performance; and 56% said they do not feel adequately equipped to identify companies that are engaged in socially responsible business practices. Moreover, 71% of investors indicated that knowing a company is rated higher in terms of its social performance would make them more likely to invest in that company; and 77% said they are more likely to purchase their products or services.
Reggie Stanley, Calvert's Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, explained that the Ratings are designed to provide transparency about Calvert's method of analyzing social, environmental, and governance performance of companies. Calvert hopes the Ratings will foster dialog and increase awareness of social issues among financial professionals and their clients, as well as institutional investors.
"We believe that not only financial indicators, but also social, environmental, and governance factors are all important indicators of quality of management." Mr. Stanley said. "Our experience has shown that companies that do not meet our social criteria often turn out later to have financial problems as well. These include such companies as WorldCom, Tyco, Choicepoint, and Qwest."
The Ratings are determined by Calvert's Social Research team who evaluate the social performance of companies using a rating of one to five, with five representing top performance and one representing poorest performance in each category. Among the list of companies just released, the analysts have noted seven companies that demonstrate leadership in several of the five issue areas. The Calvert Leaders(tm) (in alphabetical order) are Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE: CL), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG), and Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN). Short profiles of the Calvert Leaders are available at www.calvert.com.
"Investors understand that these so-called 'intangibles' or social, environmental, and governance factors are frequently just as important as traditional financial metrics in evaluating the risks, prospects and investment potential of particular companies," said Dr. Julie Fox Gorte, Vice President and Chief Social Investment Strategist. "The Calvert Ratings provide the most comprehensive publicly available information about the social, environmental, and governance performance of the nation's largest companies," she added.
*Please see the attached Calvert Social Research analysts' expert list.
About Calvert
Celebrating 30 years of helping investors meet their financial goals, Calvert is one of the nation's largest socially responsible mutual fund firms with over $11 billion in assets under management. Calvert offers thirty-two funds that allow individual and institutional investors to pursue a broad range of investment objectives within a single fund family. Calvert also has an extensive line up of tax-free and taxable fixed-income investments. For more information on Calvert visit www.Calvert.com
For more information on any Calvert fund, please contact Calvert at 800.368.2748 for a free prospectus. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest or send money.
Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Distributors Inc., member NASD, a subsidiary of Calvert Group. (02/06, 5931)
Calvert Ratings Social Research Analysts
Calvert's Social Research Department houses experienced analysts offering preeminent social research on the environment, workplace, business practices, human rights, and community relations. Senior analysts are widely respected experts in these fields and have provided analysis for institutions that include Fortune 500 corporations, Non-Governmental Organizations, the International Labor Organization, and the US Congress. Below are brief summaries on some of the lead analysts' involved in the development of the Calvert Ratings.
Dr. Julie Fox Gorte
Vice President and Chief Social Investment Strategist
Dr. Gorte works closely with the portfolio managers of Calvert's socially screened funds in evaluating the impact of social screening on the portfolios and provides quantitative and qualitative analysis on the effects of the screening on investment universes and portfolios. She guides the development of alternative approaches to coalesce financial and social metrics.
Issue Area: Environment, governance, workplace issues and the intersection between social and environmental and financial performance and metrics. Governance issues such as executive compensation, lobbying, accounting and securities fraud, board diversity, and board governance
Industry Expertise: Technology, defense and aerospace, forest products, energy and electricity, healthcare (pharmaceuticals)
Alya Kayal
Issue Area: International Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples' Rights, Supplier Standards, International Development, Emerging Markets
Industry Expertise: Apparel, toys, footwear & general retail
Stu Dalheim
Issue Area: Business Practices, Corporate Governance,
Shareholder Engagement, Proxy Voting
Industry Expertise: Homebuilders, Forest Products and
Paper, Real Estate
Amy Augustine
Issue Area: Diversity, labor relations, employee health and safety, and international labor relations
Industry Expertise: Media companies and retailers
Stephanie Cuttler
Issue Area: Product safety, public health, and consumer fraud
Industry Expertise: Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies
Lily Donge
Issue Area: Environment, climate change, land use and natural resources
Industry Expertise: Oil and gas, and utilities
Shirley Peoples
Issue Area: Community relations
Industry Expertise: Financial Services with a focus on the banking sector.
Erica Lasdon
Issue Area: Human Rights
Industry Expertise: Financial Services with a focus on insurance and diversified financial services
Lora McCray
Issue Area: Corporate Governance
Industry Expertise: Technology
Julie Frieder
Issue Area: Environment
Industry Expertise: computers, chemicals, basic materials
Ellen Kennedy
Issue Area: Product Safety, Animal Welfare
Industry Expertise: Consumer products
Calvert funds are available at NAV for RIAs and Wrap Programs. For more information on any Calvert fund, please call Calvert at 800.368.2750 for a free prospectus. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest or send money. Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Distributors, Inc., member NASD, a subsidiary of Calvert Group, Ltd. Calvert Distributors, Inc., 4550 Montgomery Avenue, Suite 1000N, Bethesda, MD 20814. #5922-200602
A UNIFICompanySM www.calvert.com.
Calvert
Calvert
Calvert, a leader in sustainable and responsible investing, headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., has, since our founding in 1976, set industry standards for asset management excellence - in both the way we select companies for our portfolios and how we serve our clients' interests. Our investment approach emphasizes rigorous fundamental research that goes beyond traditional measures to uncover companies with long-term value. Through proven investment management, attentive customer service, an innovative family of investment products, and strong marketing capabilities, Calvert serves individual and institutional investors nationwide as well as professional financial advisors
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