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2019

Year in Review

Stakeholder Capitalism
Eclipses
Shareholder Primacy

2019 will be remembered as the year that the business community began the transformational shift toward a more balanced form of capitalism that serves all stakeholders, not just shareholders. In a time of rising and extreme inequality, climate change, and populism, it couldn’t be more critical that businesses measure their performance differently – assessing not just short-term financial performance but their impact on their workforces, communities, customers, and the environment.

We couldn’t be more proud to be at the center of the action. This year we fueled the stakeholder capitalism movement by providing the definitive roadmap for what corporations should prioritize, the data and rankings to help companies benchmark and improve performance, as well as the business and investment case to incentivize change.

2020 will be the year business and markets move from rhetoric to reality, from aspiration to action. “Show me” will be the operative phrase. We will play a significant role in bringing the promise of stakeholder capitalism into practice by becoming a leading authority for stakeholder measurement and improvement – which serve as the underpinning of trust for a future capitalism. Our unique data, tools, and insights will support catalytic change and help build an economy that works for all Americans.

Although corporate leaders have pledged to create value for all of their stakeholders, we believe one group in particular will be at the epicenter of this shift in 2020: workers. During this election cycle the state of jobs, wages, and workers in America will be at the core of the conversation. Despite rising productivity, profits, and a record stock market run, many Americans still feel disconnected and left behind. We think it’s one of the biggest reasons why a majority of Americans consistently tell us that the most important thing companies should prioritize is their workforce.

The good news is that we know now what steps need to be taken to move forward. This year, we will be stepping up our efforts to increase the breadth and depth of human capital disclosure, especially wages; elevate policies and practices that support good jobs, a clean environment, and healthy communities; identify strategies for companies to overcome barriers to implementation toward meaningful change; and engage investors and civil society on how to scale this behavior. The bottom line is we know that when businesses do right by all their stakeholders, everybody benefits.

This is a once-in-a-generation moment, and we invite you to join us.

The Year of the Worker

Martin Whittaker, CEO

2019 By the Numbers

15000
Americans surveyed
922
Companies ranked across 5 Stakeholders, 29 Issues, and 88 Metrics
430000
Total data points captured for all companies
400+
Companies engaged – representing 30M workers
132%
Increase in companies showcasing the JUST Seal

Engaging the Public

To restore declining trust, companies need to reconnect their priorities with the priorities of the American public. Since 2015, JUST Capital has surveyed nearly 100,000 Americans to identify what matters most when it comes to just business behavior. In 2019, we reached 4,000 Americans to identify the core Issues they believe are most important when it comes to just business.

The priorities of the public powers everything we do – from our annual Rankings to our investment products to our corporate benchmarking tools. Explore the full results here.

In the News

Americans agree that capitalism is broken – and how to fix it

READ THE ARTICLE

CEO Daily: JUST Capital’s Annual Survey

READ THE ARTICLE

Mistrust in Business Grows

READ THE ARTICLE

Measuring and Evaluating Corporate Behavior

Last year, we tracked, analyzed, and ranked 922 companies, across five stakeholder groups and key 29 Issues. Our Rankings of America’s JUST Companies – released in November in partnership with Forbes – defined for the first time which companies are leading the way in the new stakeholder economy.

Our JUST 100 leaders demonstrate what good looks like by creating long-term value for all their stakeholders. Compared to their Russell 1000 peers, JUST 100 companies on average:

In the News

The Companies Doing Right by America

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Dealbook: Ranking U.S. Companies

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The Business Roundtable, Ranked

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The JUST 100 Ranks Responsible Companies

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What Top CEOs Are Saying About JUST

Sharing Stories of JUST Leadership

All year long, JUST Capital unpacks the stories around just corporate behavior – highlighting the companies leading on stakeholder issues and exploring their journey to justness.

Driving Change

There is an alternative story in America today – one that believes in stakeholder business and the value of long-term performance. JUST Capital is lifting up that story to change practices and shift norms and expectations in business and markets. Throughout the year, JUST utilized a combination of research, engagement, and strategic communications to shift the narrative and drive change.

Demonstrating the Business and Investor Case

From our investable indexes to our JUST Alpha research series, to new event and media platforms like the Bloomberg Investor Breakfast and the CNBC Quarterly JUST Call, we have one goal: to drive investment capital toward more just companies, thereby incentivizing a more just and equitable marketplace. Key investor initiatives from 2019 include:

JUST US Large Cap Diversified Index vs Russell 1000 (% total return)

Since its November 30, 2016 inception through December 2019, the JUST Index has outperformed the Russell 1000 by 517 basis points.

In the News

3 Socially Conscious Strategies to Boost the Bottom Line

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Do Ethical Companies Earn Higher Profits?

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PayPal Pilots a New Quarterly Call

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A Conversation on ESG Investing

READ THE ARTICLE

Supporting Good Jobs

In 2019, we built out our strategy to focus on workers and the case for quality jobs. That work took several forms – from holding a convening with BlackRock, to partnering with the Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism and EY, to encouraging corporations to publicly disclose data on human capital management policies and publish metrics on non-traditional value drivers.

We also released a groundbreaking analysis of the state of disclosure in corporate America with the goal of incentivizing the disclosure around nine key workplace policies. The good news? It’s working. Between 2018 and 2019 we saw a 50% increase in pay equity disclosures, 40% increase in career development disclosures, a 22% increase parental leave policy disclosures, and a 7% increase in both flexible work hours and D&I target disclosures. Explore the study here (snapshot below), and stay tuned for an update in early 2020.

In the News

Transparency Helps Companies Grow Their Bottom Line

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Study Shows Policy Efforts May Help Boost Returns

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Why Companies Should Publicly Disclose Their Workforce Policies

READ THE ARTICLE

Building Our Organizational Strength

2019 was a vital year in strengthening our partnerships and organizational capabilities. We:

Welcomed new board members: Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics, Dan Ariely; SVP of Revenue and Operations at the Metropolitan Museum, Laurel Britton; Filmmaker, Abigail Disney; President and CEO of Grameen America, Andrea Jung; and Chairman of Hewlett Packard Enterprises, Pat Russo.
Joined Imperative 21 alongside B Lab, B Team, CECP, Coalition for Inclusive Capitalism, and Conscious Capitalism to align incentives and shift culture so capitalism works for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Created a partnership with NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business to provide their researchers with data on quality jobs, so they can assess correlation between quality jobs and corporate financial performance across different sectors.
Collaborated with Commonwealth to promote the business case in offering emergency savings programs to strengthen the financial security of workers.
Worked with Harvard Business School to create a case study exploring our approach to analyzing corporate performance and incentivizing change, and built programs with UVA Darden, NYU Stern, and Net Impact to engage our next generation of business and financial leaders.

Growing JUST

JUST Capital had a banner year in fundraising for FY19 – with over $6 million raised from individual donors, foundations, and our Board Members. Thank you!

Championing our mission is understanding that support through JUST Capital directly elevates Americans' voice and opinion on our 5-stakeholder issues, and tackles urgent problems by working with corporations on how to be and do better. Our research and data and corporate engagement teams are working day in and day out to ensure that not only are corporate best practices known by organizations, but that they are also put into action.

This year we launched our Series JUST Campaign in an effort to raise $10 million dollars for three main initiatives that will help us further move towards creating a market that works for all Americans. To date we have raised $2.6M, and still have a ways to go – and we could use your help!

Our Funding and Program Initiatives

Initiative #1:
Core Data Development

Total Investment Needed = $3,000,000

Impact: JUST Capital will become the stakeholder economy’s authoritative, independent platform for measuring and improving companies on stakeholder performance.

Initiative #2:
Achieving Sustainable Growth

Total Investment Needed = $4,000,000

Impact: JUST Capital will scale by establishing revenue lines that accelerate its mission and promote greater financial self-reliance.

Initiative #3:
Influencing Behavior

Total Investment Needed = $3,000,000

Impact: JUST Capital will shift the narrative on the role of companies in society, and build widespread support for the stakeholder vision of corporate purpose.

Program Focus Areas:

Equity & Equal Opportunity
Fair and Living Wage
Income Inequality
Good Jobs
Healthy Communities
Environmental Impact

If you are interested in learning more about the Series JUST Campaign and our giving initiatives please reach out to JUST Capital’s Director of Development, Jason Rizzi at jrizzi@justcapital.com.

Financial Overview