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Glossary

Terms frequently used in finance and Shareholder Engagement

3-legged stool
A classic metaphor for the three levels of social investment: Screening, Community investment, and Shareholder engagement.
5% rule
A portion of SEC Rule 14a-8 that generally requires the topic of a shareholder resolution to apply to more than 5% of a company’s business.
ASE
American Stock Exchange
B Corp
A company certified as a B Corp (regardless of their legal corporate structure). See bcorporation.net for more information.
Benefit Corporation
A company legally chartered as a benefit corporation in one of the States or jurisdictions that has adopted benefit legislation. See benefitcorp.net for more information.
CDFI
Community Development Financial Institution
Closely held
See Privately held
Community investment
A type of investment that makes available necessary capital access and banking services to groups of people or regions of the world traditionally underserved if not outright excluded from receiving them (= micro-credit lending)
CPA
Center for Political Accountability
CRI
Coalition for Responsible Investment
CSR
Corporate Social Responsibility
DAF
Donor Advised Fund
DSI
Domini Social Index
EDGAR
Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval. This is the SEC system by which public companies make their required filings, such as quarterly reports, annual reports, and other mandated disclosures.
EFT
Electronic funds transfer
ESG
Environmental, Social & Governance factors
ETF
Exchange Traded Fund
GIIRS
Global Impact Investing Ratings System
Glass Lewis
A proxy reporting service
GRI
Global Reporting Initiative
ICCR
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
IPJC
Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center
ISS
Institutional Shareholder Services, a proxy reporting service
KLD
Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini. A company originally formed by Peter Kinder, Steve Lydenberg and Amy Domini. KLD created the first SRI index in 1990 called the KLD 400 Index.
L3C
Low-Profit Limited Liability Corporation
Microcredit
See Community investment
Microfinance
See Community investment
Morelos Forum
A thought leader invitational forum created by Amy Domini. Originally, meetings were convened in Cuernavaca, Morelos State, Mexico (hence, the name).
Muhammad Yunis
Bangladeshi banker, economist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient. He developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance.
NGO
Non-Governmental Organization or non-profit entity
NWCRI
Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment
NYSE
New York Stock Exchange
Oikocredit
A leading Community Development Financial Institution.
Ordinary business
A portion of SEC Rule 14a-8 that generally requires a shareholder resolution to not focus on matters that might be considered under management’s routine, day-to-day purview.
PRI
Program Related Investment
Privately held
A company whose shares are not publicly traded.
Proxy
The document sent by a company to its shareholders, that contains items on the formal agenda for consideration and a vote at the annual meeting of shareholders.
Proxy reporting service
A company or service that makes vote recommendations for items found in corporate proxies; a company or service that will vote shares on behalf of clients.
Publicly traded
Shares of stock that can be bought-or-sold on a stock exchange by members of the public.
Screening
(a) Avoiding companies whose practices are unfavorable; (b) seeking companies whose practices are better than others.
SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC Rule 14a-8
The primary SEC rule that defines the rights and obligations of shareholders wishing to file shareholder resolutions.
Shareholder advocacy
See Shareholder engagement below.
Shareholder engagement
Using one’s rights as a shareholder to advocate for changes in a company’s practices. (Also known as shareholder advocacy).
Shareholder proposal
See Shareholder resolution below.
Shareholder resolution
An item for inclusion in a company’s proxy for a vote of all shareholders, that is submitted by a shareholder (as opposed to put forward by management). (Also known as a shareholder proposal).
SIF
The former Social Investment Forum, now known as US SIF – The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.
SIRAN
Sustainable Investment Research Analysts Network.
SOCAP
The Social Capital Conference.
SPC
Social Purpose Corporation, enacted by WA State June 7, 2012.
SRI
Socially Responsible Investment, or Socially Responsive Investment, or Sustainable & Responsible Impact investment.
SRO
Self Regulated Organization.
Stock exchange
An entity or organization that creates a market for publicly traded shares of stock.
UN
United Nations.
UNPRI
United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.
US SIF
The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.