Walden Asset Management
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Walden Asset Management(WAM) is the division of Boston Trust and Investment Management Company dedicated to Socially responsible investing (SRI).
[edit] History
WAM was founded in 1975, shortly after the start of the modern SRI movement that was spurred by the Vietnam War. Since then, it has become a major player in the SRI community. Notable actions of WAM include its participation in the 1982 creation of the nation's first mutual fund with South African anti-apartheid screens and its 1992 initiation of a proxy policy of voting against boards of directors without women and minorities which was later adopted by many other investment firms. In 1994, WAM was the only investment manager to testify before the President's Glass Ceiling Commission, ecouraging the full corporate disclosure of diversity information.
In 2004, Walden and its parent company, Boston Trust and Investment Management, became fully employee owned.
[edit] Socially Responsible Investment Strategies
Walden Asset Management primarily encourages corporate responsibility and responsiveness through its share holdings. However, WAM also utilitizes other forms of shareholder activism such as screening portfolios for companies that don't meet SRI standards, communicating directly with companies about relevant issues, introducing and voting on shareholder resolutions, and engaging in community development investing.
