Corporate accountability focus of social investment conference

(March 3, 2003) Canada’s social investment community is gearing up for its biannual conference, with organizers promising to pay special attention to corporate accountability and governance issues. The conference, sponsored by the Social Investment Organization, is scheduled for June 1-3 in Vancouver.

“With corporate scrutiny at an all-time high, investors are demanding that companies be accountable on governance policies and social and environmental practices,” the SIO says.

Keynote speakers at the SIO conference include James Heard of Institutional Shareholder Services, the world’s leading provider of proxy voting and corporate governance services. Heard’s topic is “Corporate Governance in a Post-Enron Market.”

George Washington University law professor and author Lawrence Mitchell will speak in a panel discussion on “The Governance Crisis, SRI and the Future of Global Business.”

Other panel discussions will focus on SRI marketing, social investment portfolios, socially responsible banking and mission-based investing.

The three-day conference includes a series of workshops, including a fund managers forum and a session for advisors on SRI marketing, conducted by Sucheta Rajagopal of Hampton Securities.

A luncheon on pension funds and SRI and a session on industry trends are on the agenda, as well as a social investment trade show.

For more information, check the Social Investment Organization’s Web site.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, dwatt@advisor.ca