1 00:00:01,047 --> 00:00:04,278 We love to engage on the issues of the day. 2 00:00:04,302 --> 00:00:05,460 We love it. 3 00:00:05,484 --> 00:00:06,942 We comment on the news, 4 00:00:06,966 --> 00:00:09,309 we post our views on social media, 5 00:00:09,333 --> 00:00:12,071 we march, we protest ... 6 00:00:12,095 --> 00:00:15,850 But who among us is working on solutions, 7 00:00:15,874 --> 00:00:18,334 big solutions to big issues, 8 00:00:18,358 --> 00:00:20,270 like gun violence, 9 00:00:20,294 --> 00:00:22,029 mistreatment of workers, 10 00:00:22,053 --> 00:00:23,762 flood, famine, drought? 11 00:00:23,786 --> 00:00:26,307 Who is on it? 12 00:00:26,331 --> 00:00:27,494 Boom! 13 00:00:28,781 --> 00:00:30,081 These guys. 14 00:00:30,105 --> 00:00:32,118 (Laughter) 15 00:00:32,142 --> 00:00:34,838 What? You were hoping for Peter Parker? 16 00:00:34,862 --> 00:00:36,290 The Avengers? 17 00:00:36,314 --> 00:00:39,062 You don't expect this beacon of diversity, 18 00:00:39,086 --> 00:00:45,401 these good-looking, nicely dressed dudes just oozing charisma to solve the issues? 19 00:00:45,425 --> 00:00:48,576 Well good, because they're actually not going to solve the issues. 20 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,944 But before you dismiss them, 21 00:00:51,968 --> 00:00:54,368 let me say, they're not going to solve the issues, 22 00:00:54,392 --> 00:00:56,616 but they will show us how. 23 00:00:57,100 --> 00:00:58,842 So who are they? 24 00:00:58,866 --> 00:01:00,333 They're activist investors: 25 00:01:00,950 --> 00:01:06,867 Carl Icahn, Dan Loeb, Paul Singer, Barry Rosenstein. 26 00:01:06,891 --> 00:01:10,474 These are the modern-day OGs of Wall Street. 27 00:01:10,498 --> 00:01:11,551 (Laughter) 28 00:01:11,575 --> 00:01:12,737 These are scary dudes. 29 00:01:12,761 --> 00:01:14,416 I don't mean Green Goblin scary. 30 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:16,655 I mean real scary. 31 00:01:17,169 --> 00:01:21,814 The fear they strike in the hearts of a company's CEO and board 32 00:01:21,838 --> 00:01:23,697 when they enter its stock 33 00:01:23,721 --> 00:01:28,575 is the same fear you feel when you hear a bear outside your tent, 34 00:01:28,599 --> 00:01:29,842 and it's dark, 35 00:01:29,866 --> 00:01:32,398 and you're sitting there with a mouthful of Doritos -- 36 00:01:32,422 --> 00:01:33,483 (Laughter) 37 00:01:33,507 --> 00:01:34,661 that just moments ago, 38 00:01:34,685 --> 00:01:37,653 you had snuck out of the tent to pull down from the bear hang, 39 00:01:37,677 --> 00:01:39,075 because you had the munchies. 40 00:01:39,099 --> 00:01:40,570 That fear. 41 00:01:41,245 --> 00:01:42,963 And in that moment, you are praying, 42 00:01:42,987 --> 00:01:46,373 "Oh Lord, please let this bear be passing through." 43 00:01:46,397 --> 00:01:49,229 That bear is not passing through! 44 00:01:49,253 --> 00:01:52,017 That bear made a detour for you. 45 00:01:52,041 --> 00:01:54,042 Bears like Doritos! 46 00:01:54,066 --> 00:01:55,198 (Laughter) 47 00:01:55,222 --> 00:01:57,526 Activists like money. 48 00:01:57,550 --> 00:02:03,514 Some activists also like Doritos, but they definitely want money. 49 00:02:04,313 --> 00:02:08,647 And the way they make money, the way they create value, 50 00:02:08,671 --> 00:02:11,269 is by getting management of corporations 51 00:02:11,293 --> 00:02:12,909 to make changes. 52 00:02:14,005 --> 00:02:17,127 Now, some will argue that the changes they create, 53 00:02:17,151 --> 00:02:19,789 the value they create, is too short-term in nature. 54 00:02:20,349 --> 00:02:24,106 And others will say the tactics they use are egregious. 55 00:02:24,130 --> 00:02:25,544 I agree. 56 00:02:25,568 --> 00:02:27,280 Long, drawn-out lawsuits, 57 00:02:27,304 --> 00:02:28,788 public smear campaigns -- 58 00:02:28,812 --> 00:02:31,152 there is no need for that. 59 00:02:31,741 --> 00:02:34,894 But I must say, there's a small handful of activists, 60 00:02:34,918 --> 00:02:36,214 very small, 61 00:02:36,238 --> 00:02:39,174 that go to great lengths to be constructive and collaborative. 62 00:02:39,198 --> 00:02:41,920 And overall, we have to give credit where credit is due. 63 00:02:41,944 --> 00:02:45,790 As a group, they have managed to catalyze large-scale change 64 00:02:45,814 --> 00:02:47,035 in large corporations, 65 00:02:47,059 --> 00:02:49,278 and that's no small feat. 66 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:51,824 Now, imagine a world 67 00:02:52,888 --> 00:02:55,948 where all investors were working with management to make change, 68 00:02:55,972 --> 00:02:57,816 not just to make more money, 69 00:02:58,981 --> 00:03:01,924 but to improve the environment and society. 70 00:03:01,948 --> 00:03:06,612 Imagine what a greener and better world this would be. 71 00:03:06,636 --> 00:03:08,588 Now, why? Why would an investor bother? 72 00:03:08,612 --> 00:03:11,536 And at first, blush I'm with you: Why would an investor care? 73 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:13,903 Because if doing well on ESG issues -- 74 00:03:13,927 --> 00:03:16,712 environmental, social and governance issues -- 75 00:03:16,736 --> 00:03:19,401 was just an act of good corporate citizenship, 76 00:03:20,441 --> 00:03:22,350 then I agree, investors would not care. 77 00:03:22,374 --> 00:03:23,817 But the good news, 78 00:03:23,841 --> 00:03:27,019 and perhaps the saving grace for our collective futures, 79 00:03:27,043 --> 00:03:30,757 is that it's so much more than an act of good corporate citizenship. 80 00:03:31,376 --> 00:03:32,745 It's good business. 81 00:03:33,383 --> 00:03:36,143 There's now enough evidence that shows a clear correlation 82 00:03:36,167 --> 00:03:39,373 between ESG performance and financial performance. 83 00:03:39,397 --> 00:03:42,604 Companies that do good for the environment and society 84 00:03:42,628 --> 00:03:44,607 also do well financially. 85 00:03:45,362 --> 00:03:47,807 And some of the best companies are catching on. 86 00:03:47,831 --> 00:03:49,162 Like Adidas: 87 00:03:49,186 --> 00:03:53,108 Adidas is cleaning up the ocean and making money in the process. 88 00:03:53,132 --> 00:03:57,332 Adidas teamed up with an organization called Parley for the Oceans. 89 00:03:57,356 --> 00:04:00,893 Parley goes out and collects plastic waste from the ocean. 90 00:04:00,917 --> 00:04:03,385 Adidas uses the plastic waste to make shoes. 91 00:04:03,409 --> 00:04:06,016 Shoes made with plastic from the ocean: 92 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:08,771 good for the environment and good for business. 93 00:04:09,210 --> 00:04:13,107 Because if you know that rapidly growing consumer segment known as hipsters -- 94 00:04:13,721 --> 00:04:15,363 and I know you know hipsters -- 95 00:04:15,387 --> 00:04:19,000 then you know that a hipster faced with the choice between a no-name shoe 96 00:04:19,024 --> 00:04:21,310 and an Adidas made with plastic from the ocean 97 00:04:21,334 --> 00:04:25,308 will pick the Adidas every day of the week and twice on Sunday, 98 00:04:25,332 --> 00:04:27,745 and then walk around like it's no big deal 99 00:04:27,769 --> 00:04:30,916 but look for every opportunity to talk about them. 100 00:04:31,605 --> 00:04:33,415 Like, in an Uber Pool. 101 00:04:33,439 --> 00:04:34,485 (Laughter) 102 00:04:34,509 --> 00:04:37,120 "Hey, I noticed you looking at my feet." 103 00:04:37,144 --> 00:04:41,310 "What? Dude, no, I'm just making slides. I'm a consultant. I make slides. 104 00:04:41,334 --> 00:04:43,684 I'm making PowerPoint slides, I'm not looking --" 105 00:04:43,708 --> 00:04:44,876 "No, it's fine. 106 00:04:44,900 --> 00:04:46,303 I get why you'd be looking. 107 00:04:46,327 --> 00:04:48,431 The plastic on my shoe must be bothering you. 108 00:04:48,455 --> 00:04:50,983 Well, let me talk about it for the rest of this ride. 109 00:04:51,007 --> 00:04:53,417 You see, the plastic on my shoe is from the ocean, 110 00:04:53,441 --> 00:04:55,592 on my feet, not in your fish, 111 00:04:55,616 --> 00:04:57,772 being walked on, not being munched on. 112 00:04:57,796 --> 00:05:00,319 Happy feet. Happy fish. Happy ocean. 113 00:05:00,343 --> 00:05:02,686 Doing my part. I got eco-shoes. I got eco-shoes. 114 00:05:02,710 --> 00:05:04,539 You need some eco-shoes?" 115 00:05:04,563 --> 00:05:07,027 And so on, just cornering him. We've all been there. 116 00:05:07,051 --> 00:05:09,925 "Hey, pass me your cell phone. I'll give you a discount code. 117 00:05:09,949 --> 00:05:11,556 Let me give you a discount code." 118 00:05:11,580 --> 00:05:12,731 We've all been -- 119 00:05:12,755 --> 00:05:14,903 Folks, I have jumped out of moving Uber Pools. 120 00:05:14,927 --> 00:05:16,032 (Laughter) 121 00:05:16,056 --> 00:05:18,678 Just, moving, highway, I'm out. I'm out. 122 00:05:20,567 --> 00:05:23,854 But we've got to forgive the hipsters, we need to love the hipsters. 123 00:05:23,878 --> 00:05:26,367 We need hipsters, and we need companies like Adidas, 124 00:05:26,391 --> 00:05:29,891 and what we need most is for investors to convince other companies 125 00:05:29,915 --> 00:05:31,527 to behave like Adidas. 126 00:05:31,551 --> 00:05:33,258 And herein lies the challenge. 127 00:05:33,969 --> 00:05:37,863 There's a growing group of investors, call them "conscious investors." 128 00:05:37,887 --> 00:05:40,657 Conscious investors care about ESG issues. 129 00:05:41,791 --> 00:05:45,978 And they talk a lot about engaging management on ESG issues. 130 00:05:46,002 --> 00:05:48,647 But they don't actually get management to make changes 131 00:05:48,671 --> 00:05:51,455 that will improve the environment and society. 132 00:05:52,078 --> 00:05:55,654 And this is where conscious investors can take a page from the playbook 133 00:05:55,678 --> 00:05:57,609 of the activist investors, 134 00:05:57,633 --> 00:06:01,550 because the activist investors have no issues getting management to make changes. 135 00:06:01,574 --> 00:06:04,100 They have no issues turning up the heat. 136 00:06:04,124 --> 00:06:05,322 Take Paul Singer. 137 00:06:05,346 --> 00:06:07,689 He's an old-school Wall Street OG, 138 00:06:07,713 --> 00:06:11,421 now in his 70s, loves Doritos, loves making money. 139 00:06:12,474 --> 00:06:15,881 Argentina owed Paul 600 million dollars 140 00:06:15,905 --> 00:06:17,816 and would not pay. 141 00:06:18,386 --> 00:06:19,552 Big mistake. 142 00:06:19,576 --> 00:06:22,987 You can't take money from an OG and not pay it back. 143 00:06:23,425 --> 00:06:25,872 Paul went to war with Argentina. 144 00:06:25,896 --> 00:06:27,990 I am not inventing. 145 00:06:28,014 --> 00:06:29,583 This is big. This was huge. 146 00:06:29,607 --> 00:06:32,246 This was bigger than Tyson vs Holyfield, 147 00:06:32,270 --> 00:06:33,637 Ali vs Foreman. 148 00:06:33,661 --> 00:06:35,702 This was man vs country. 149 00:06:35,726 --> 00:06:40,473 Paul Singer started going around the world trying to seize up Argentinian assets. 150 00:06:40,497 --> 00:06:45,162 At one point, he tried to seize an Argentinian navy vessel 151 00:06:45,186 --> 00:06:46,440 off the coast of Ghana. 152 00:06:46,464 --> 00:06:49,900 He tried to take over a 350-foot ship 153 00:06:49,924 --> 00:06:53,842 while big navy officers with big guns were on the ship. 154 00:06:53,866 --> 00:06:57,400 He got the police in Ghana to show up with a crane 155 00:06:57,424 --> 00:06:58,903 and threaten to board the ship, 156 00:06:58,927 --> 00:07:03,439 and it wasn't until the navy officers drew their weapons 157 00:07:03,463 --> 00:07:05,270 that they called off the operation. 158 00:07:05,770 --> 00:07:08,358 That's what I call turning up the heat. 159 00:07:08,382 --> 00:07:09,599 Now, you may say 160 00:07:10,479 --> 00:07:12,773 Paul lost the battle. 161 00:07:12,797 --> 00:07:14,368 And I'll say, Paul won the war, 162 00:07:14,392 --> 00:07:16,232 because Paul didn't get paid one time, 163 00:07:16,256 --> 00:07:19,380 he got paid 20 times his original investment. 164 00:07:20,831 --> 00:07:22,353 Then you have Barry Rosenstein. 165 00:07:22,377 --> 00:07:23,666 His fund, Jana Partners, 166 00:07:23,690 --> 00:07:26,145 started stealth-mode buying up stock in Whole Foods, 167 00:07:26,169 --> 00:07:28,572 at a time when Whole Foods was struggling. 168 00:07:28,596 --> 00:07:30,496 They got to eight percent, came out, 169 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,276 and pushed Whole Foods to sell itself to Amazon, 170 00:07:33,300 --> 00:07:37,349 and not because Barry wanted same-day delivery of his organic Doritos. 171 00:07:37,373 --> 00:07:38,404 (Laughter) 172 00:07:38,998 --> 00:07:40,984 He wanted to make some money. 173 00:07:41,008 --> 00:07:43,798 Now, the CEO of Whole Foods, John Mackey, and the board 174 00:07:43,822 --> 00:07:48,030 did not want to sell themselves to Amazon, 175 00:07:48,054 --> 00:07:50,747 because that would be the prime example of selling out. 176 00:07:51,275 --> 00:07:53,352 But in the end, they caved. 177 00:07:53,879 --> 00:07:56,457 Why? Because Barry turned up the heat, 178 00:07:56,481 --> 00:07:59,328 and he made 300 million dollars in the process. 179 00:07:59,777 --> 00:08:02,886 And he did not leave a very nice impression on John. 180 00:08:03,605 --> 00:08:06,363 You're not going to see John and Barry just hugging it out 181 00:08:06,387 --> 00:08:07,658 at the Whole Foods café. 182 00:08:08,765 --> 00:08:10,765 Let's take a very different example now: 183 00:08:11,524 --> 00:08:14,020 the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund, 184 00:08:14,829 --> 00:08:17,358 a $10 billion conscious investor. 185 00:08:17,915 --> 00:08:20,846 They recently came out hard against private prisons in the US, 186 00:08:20,870 --> 00:08:22,235 and good for them. 187 00:08:22,259 --> 00:08:25,324 As a new parent, I tell you, I am troubled by devastating images 188 00:08:25,348 --> 00:08:28,853 of young children being ripped out of the arms of their parents 189 00:08:28,877 --> 00:08:30,061 at the US border 190 00:08:30,085 --> 00:08:33,571 and being placed in private detention facilities that did too little 191 00:08:33,595 --> 00:08:36,752 to help the kids maintain contact with their parents. 192 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:39,360 So what did the Chicago teachers do? 193 00:08:40,459 --> 00:08:43,255 Did they get management to make changes? 194 00:08:43,279 --> 00:08:44,544 Did they turn up the heat? 195 00:08:44,568 --> 00:08:46,687 Did they look management in the eye and say, 196 00:08:46,711 --> 00:08:48,389 "This is no way to run a business. 197 00:08:49,044 --> 00:08:51,669 There's a different way to do things. Let me show you"? 198 00:08:51,693 --> 00:08:55,123 No. They just sold their stock. 199 00:08:55,972 --> 00:08:57,428 Selling did nothing. 200 00:08:57,452 --> 00:08:59,829 It's not like management woke up the next day 201 00:08:59,853 --> 00:09:01,306 and had an epiphany and said, 202 00:09:01,330 --> 00:09:04,826 "Gosh, the teachers sold their stock. We'd better be nice to the kids." 203 00:09:04,850 --> 00:09:06,262 No. That didn't happen. 204 00:09:06,971 --> 00:09:10,952 And despite a decade of several high-profile divestitures 205 00:09:10,976 --> 00:09:12,760 in private prison stock in the US, 206 00:09:12,784 --> 00:09:14,489 the stock has continued to climb. 207 00:09:14,513 --> 00:09:18,600 The stock over that same period has outperformed the market. 208 00:09:19,941 --> 00:09:21,197 And the biggest issue is, 209 00:09:21,221 --> 00:09:24,818 we went from a set of conscious investors owning the stock 210 00:09:24,842 --> 00:09:29,608 to it potentially being owned by investors who don't care about these issues 211 00:09:29,632 --> 00:09:31,955 and don't care what you think about these issues. 212 00:09:32,423 --> 00:09:34,994 And this is my issue with conscious investors. 213 00:09:35,018 --> 00:09:37,151 Their MO is to divest 214 00:09:37,175 --> 00:09:39,825 or divert money into ESG-focused funds. 215 00:09:40,887 --> 00:09:44,190 You can't divest your way to a greener world. 216 00:09:45,261 --> 00:09:47,579 You can divest your way to a greener portfolio, 217 00:09:47,603 --> 00:09:49,222 not to a greener world. 218 00:09:50,722 --> 00:09:52,055 So what's it going to take? 219 00:09:52,079 --> 00:09:54,130 What's it going to take to flip the script, 220 00:09:54,154 --> 00:09:57,006 to get conscious investors to go from divesting to engaging, 221 00:09:57,030 --> 00:10:00,508 to go from talking about engaging to actually working with management 222 00:10:00,532 --> 00:10:04,557 to make changes that will improve their ESG performance? 223 00:10:05,478 --> 00:10:08,376 Because there's a lot suggesting they should and they could. 224 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,473 They should, given the clear correlation between ESG performance 225 00:10:11,497 --> 00:10:12,922 and financial performance. 226 00:10:13,877 --> 00:10:16,712 They could because the activists have shown us they could. 227 00:10:17,529 --> 00:10:19,693 A shareholder can drive change in a company. 228 00:10:19,717 --> 00:10:23,647 The difference is, Paul and Barry do what they do to make money. 229 00:10:24,433 --> 00:10:29,532 The conscious investors would do it to improve society and the environment 230 00:10:29,556 --> 00:10:31,309 and make money in the process 231 00:10:31,333 --> 00:10:34,330 and do it a little more collaboratively and constructively. 232 00:10:35,245 --> 00:10:38,250 And they have the backing of the some of the largest investors. 233 00:10:38,274 --> 00:10:41,263 Vanguard and BlackRock -- together, they manage trillions. 234 00:10:41,287 --> 00:10:44,699 They've been increasingly vocal about the importance of ESG. 235 00:10:45,542 --> 00:10:49,526 The CEO of BlackRock has been increasingly vocal in his annual letters 236 00:10:49,550 --> 00:10:50,881 about this issue. 237 00:10:51,512 --> 00:10:56,282 Even Jana Partners, the same OGs that John called "greedy bastards," 238 00:10:56,306 --> 00:10:58,971 recently co-wrote an open letter to the board of Apple, 239 00:10:58,995 --> 00:11:02,122 saying, "Hey, your smartphones are addictive for children. 240 00:11:02,969 --> 00:11:04,165 Fix it." 241 00:11:04,813 --> 00:11:06,467 Apple is working on it. 242 00:11:07,983 --> 00:11:10,204 So what it's going to take is some pressure. 243 00:11:10,744 --> 00:11:13,349 It's going to take some pressure on conscious investors 244 00:11:13,373 --> 00:11:16,200 to, in turn, put some pressure on management 245 00:11:16,224 --> 00:11:20,477 to make changes that will improve the environment and society. 246 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:22,676 And where do they start? 247 00:11:22,700 --> 00:11:25,511 They start by picking an issue that matters to them 248 00:11:25,535 --> 00:11:26,837 and taking a stand on it. 249 00:11:27,376 --> 00:11:30,631 Take a stand on an issue that lines up with your purpose: 250 00:11:31,313 --> 00:11:33,958 water preservation, labor rights, diversity. 251 00:11:33,982 --> 00:11:36,820 As long as it lines up with your purpose, you are golden. 252 00:11:37,393 --> 00:11:39,028 And the biggest unlock? 253 00:11:39,052 --> 00:11:44,019 Get the senior-most investment professionals focused on this. 254 00:11:44,590 --> 00:11:46,868 Today, when an activist shows up to a campaign, 255 00:11:46,892 --> 00:11:50,351 it's the senior investment professional talking to the CEO and the board 256 00:11:50,375 --> 00:11:51,825 and everyone hears about it. 257 00:11:51,849 --> 00:11:55,396 When a conscious investor shows up to talk about an ESG issue, 258 00:11:55,420 --> 00:11:57,861 it's some junior person in the risk department 259 00:11:57,885 --> 00:12:01,055 talking to some junior person in the investor relations department, 260 00:12:01,079 --> 00:12:03,633 and nobody hears about it, and that needs to change. 261 00:12:03,657 --> 00:12:05,290 And it's not some massive leap. 262 00:12:05,314 --> 00:12:07,685 Today, when a company underperforms financially, 263 00:12:07,709 --> 00:12:08,877 who is on the hook? 264 00:12:08,901 --> 00:12:10,571 The senior investment professional. 265 00:12:10,595 --> 00:12:11,753 So what do they do? 266 00:12:11,777 --> 00:12:13,982 They drop everything and work with management, 267 00:12:14,006 --> 00:12:15,718 collaboratively and constructively, 268 00:12:15,742 --> 00:12:19,246 to make changes to improve the company's financial performance. 269 00:12:19,270 --> 00:12:22,935 The same should be true when the company underperforms on ESG issues. 270 00:12:22,959 --> 00:12:26,697 And yes, that requires standardization on how we measure ESG, 271 00:12:26,721 --> 00:12:27,907 but we're on it. 272 00:12:29,201 --> 00:12:31,143 So folks, here's my call to action: 273 00:12:31,766 --> 00:12:33,338 it's your money. 274 00:12:33,362 --> 00:12:34,871 It's your pension fund, 275 00:12:34,895 --> 00:12:36,724 it's your sovereign wealth fund. 276 00:12:36,748 --> 00:12:38,395 it's your university's endowment. 277 00:12:38,419 --> 00:12:39,771 It's your money. 278 00:12:39,795 --> 00:12:43,440 And it's your right to have your money managed in line with your values. 279 00:12:43,910 --> 00:12:45,191 So use your voice 280 00:12:45,803 --> 00:12:47,318 and trust that it matters. 281 00:12:47,902 --> 00:12:51,735 It was your voice that got the investors more conscious in the first place. 282 00:12:51,759 --> 00:12:53,684 You protested for years, 283 00:12:53,708 --> 00:12:56,634 because you didn't feel right about your money being invested 284 00:12:56,658 --> 00:12:59,442 in companies whose values don't line up with yours. 285 00:12:59,466 --> 00:13:01,349 It's time to use that voice again. 286 00:13:01,373 --> 00:13:03,691 But this time, instead of pushing them to divest, 287 00:13:03,715 --> 00:13:07,249 push them to engage, truly engage, truly work with management 288 00:13:07,273 --> 00:13:10,882 to make changes that will improve their ESG performance. 289 00:13:12,449 --> 00:13:14,524 You made them aware of the issues. 290 00:13:14,548 --> 00:13:16,476 You can now focus them on fixing them. 291 00:13:17,074 --> 00:13:18,637 Thank you. 292 00:13:18,661 --> 00:13:21,041 (Applause)