Narrative

The corporate representative of the mutual funds department wrote me, “Boston Trust Walden has a 40 year history of corporate engagement, including filing hundreds of shareholder proposals on a wide range of topics, including climate change.”  The web page titled “Impact Investing” says that with the companies it owns it performs ESG analysis, engagement with the company management, shareholder resolutions, and proxy voting.  In addition, they carry on public policy advocacy from the local up to the international level, they partner with other investors, and they try to raise the bar with respect to ESG analysis and active ownership.

Unfortunately, finding stories of particular examples requires careful searching.

Page 19 of the 2021 ESG Impact Report, says, "In early 2021, Boston Trust Walden co-filed a shareholder proposal asking JPMorgan Chase whether, when, and how it planned to measure and disclose the GHG emissions associated with the company’s financing activities (“financed emissions”), as part of its Paris-aligned financing commitment. The proposal was successfully withdrawn when the company committed to disclose the GHG emissions attributable to its financing activities for the oil and gas, electric power, and automotive manufacturing sectors; report annually on its portfolio decarbonization efforts; and provide a timeline for disclosing the bank's financed emissions for other sectors it finances."

One of their star victories in 2021 was at the Exxon Mobil annual meeting, described on p. 43 of the 2021 ESG Impact Report.  They sponsored a proposal that Exxon evaluate and report on its lobbying activity alignment with Exxon's goal of limiting average global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and address plans to mitigate any misalignment.  This call to align Exxon's lobbying with its promises won 64% of the shareholders votes.

The 2022 Impact Report (p.28) states that they prepared similar resolutions for other companies but withdrew them after successful negotiations with the companies.  The companies were Amgen, JP Morgan Chase, Merck, Union Pacific, and UnitedHealth Group.  Only Alphabet held out for a vote, which was 19% favorable.

Funds Offered

They seem to work with institutions more than with individuals.  They encourage individuals to invest in their mutual funds through a “platform” such as TD Ameritrade, Schwab, Fidelity, etc.  The minimum initial investment would be prohibitive for most individuals who try to open a “Fund direct” account but is quite low for those who use a platform. 

The firm offers ten funds, all actively managed rather than index funds, most with names that identify what they invest in, such as equity (the usual stock fund), small-capitalization, international, balanced, etc.  Only those with Walden in their name perform screening for ESG requirements, and even they do not screen out companies that involve fossil fuels (other than coal mining).  The corporate representative wrote,

The one exception is the small- and mid-capitalization fund, which is fossil fuel free:

• Boston Trust Walden SMID Cap Fund.

Fees and hassles

These will depend on the particular platform used.