Wage war: Asset managers must do more to tackle inequality

Taking on wealth and societal disparities

We live in a world of vast economic inequality and shareholders have a variety of tools at their disposal to help address it.

Yet, too often, those delegated the responsibility to exercise these rights on the underlying shareholders' behalf - asset managers - do not use the tools effectively. Ownership of a stock confers important rights. Among them are the right to select the company's leadership, approve major transactions, choose the auditor and vote on senior executive pay. These decisions can have a major impact not only on a company's ability to deliver long-term value, but also on its ability to help mitigate inequality. Consequently, ownership of a stock also bestows the responsibility to exercise...