Replay the September 29, 2021 event (viewing time 01:14:09)
A Virtual Conversation on Socially Responsible Investing
Shareholder Engagement – A Seat at the Table
Shareholders of publicly traded companies have a right and a responsibility to exercise their voice in decisions on important strategic questions of governance and corporate strategy. By having a seat at the table, shareholders can influence a company through proxy voting, management dialogues, and shareholder resolutions.
In many cases, the issues debated around the table align with the values of The Episcopal Church and are important to long term company results.
Learn more about our socially responsible investing approach.
Opening Prayer:
The Rev. Canon Anne Mallonee, Chief Ecclesiastical Officer, Church Pension Group
Welcoming Remarks and Moderator:
Mary Kate Wold, CEO and President, Church Pension Group
Panelists:
Gwen Le Berre, Director, Responsible Investing, Parametric
Aeisha Mastagni, Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies, California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Paul Neuhauser, Member, Executive Council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility
Christopher Rowe, Managing Director, Investments, Church Pension Group
Opening Prayer
The Reverend Canon Anne Mallonee
Chief Ecclesiastical Officer
Church Pension Group
The Reverend Canon Anne Mallonee is Executive Vice President and Chief Ecclesiastical Officer for CPG. She serves as an ambassador for CPG and is a key advisor to the organization. She joined CPG in 2014.
Immediately prior to joining CPG, she served as Vicar of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City for ten years. Ordained for over 30 years, her ministry has been at the diocesan level and in campus, parish, and cathedral settings.
She holds a BA from the University of Kansas and an MDiv from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.
Welcoming Remarks and Moderator
Mary Kate Wold
Chief Executive Officer and President
Church Pension Group
Mary Kate Wold serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Church Pension Group (CPG), a $17 billion financial services enterprise that provides retirement, health, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, and other products and services to The Episcopal Church. She also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of The Church Pension Fund, CPG’s governing body.
She has served in a variety of leadership positions in the corporate, legal, and government sectors. Prior to joining CPG, she was a senior finance executive and principal corporate officer of Wyeth, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Before embarking on her corporate career, she was a partner and chaired the tax practice group of Shearman & Sterling, a leading global law firm. Earlier in her career, she served in the Office of Tax Policy of the United States Department of the Treasury.
Her board participation has included both not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. She sits on the board of the Church Benefits Association, a national association of faith-based benefits organizations, and on the steering committee of the Church Alliance, a benefits policy and advocacy group. From 2016 until 2023 she served on the vestry of Trinity Church Wall Street in New York City and on its investment committee, which oversees the institution’s multi-billion-dollar real estate and securities portfolio. She also sits on the boards of Nucleus RadioPharma, The Jackson Laboratory, and Burke Neurological Institute. Her professional affiliations include membership in the Women’s Forum of New York and Women Corporate Directors.
Mary Kate spent her childhood in Bottineau, North Dakota, a small rural community on the Canadian border. She graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, summa cum laude with a BA in English and Theater and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She later graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. She holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University.
Panelists
Gwen Le Berre
Director, Responsible Investing
Parametric
Gwen is a Director at Parametric and leads the Responsible Investing Team, with a focus on active ownership and ESG portfolio construction. Prior to joining Parametric in 2019, Gwen was the director of investment stewardship at Charles Schwab Investment Management, where she spearheaded corporate governance initiatives. She also spent over a decade as the vice president for corporate governance and responsible investment at BlackRock.
Gwen is a member of the Council of Institutional Investors, where she served as chair of the Corporate Governance Advisory Council in 2018. Gwen also serves as a Mentorship Committee member for the San Francisco chapter of Women in ETFs, and she is a member of the Stanford Institutional Investor Forum.
Aeisha Mastagni
Portfolio Manager, Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies
California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS)
Aeisha Mastagni is a portfolio manager in the Sustainable Investment and Stewardship Strategies unit of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the largest educator-only pension fund in the world, and the second largest pension fund in the U.S. She is responsible for working with a dedicated team to further CalSTRS’ mission to secure the financial future and sustain the trust of California’s educators.
Aeisha’s main areas of focus are the portfolio engagement program, executive compensation, selecting and monitoring managers in the activist manager portfolio, and working with regulatory authorities on market wide issues.
In 2012, Aeisha joined the board of directors at Golden 1 Credit Union, one of the nation’s largest credit unions with more than $11 billion in assets and one million members. In 2021, she was elected to a second term on the board of directors for the Council of Institutional Investors, whose mission is to be the voice of effective corporate governance practices and shareholder rights.
Before joining CalSTRS, Aeisha worked in the Corporate Governance unit of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for six years overseeing the proxy voting program and the corporate governance manager portfolio. Prior to CalPERS, she worked in Operations at Salomon Smith Barney before moving to Morgan Stanley as a financial advisor and assistant operations manager. She has a BS in Economics from California State University, Sacramento.
Paul Neuhauser
Member
Executive Council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility
A leader in shareholder engagement strategies, Paul has been active for more than 50 years in using United States corporation law to influence American corporations doing business in South Africa and in various other nations that deny human rights.
He is a member of the Executive Council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility, which is responsible for researching the social responsibility records of corporations whose stock is held in The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (The Episcopal Church) portfolios and recommending appropriate courses of action based on the positions established by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church and the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church.
From 1963 to 2001 he held a variety of positions at the University of Iowa College of Law including Professor and Associate Dean. He is currently Professor of Law Emeritus. Prior to this, Paul was an Associate Attorney at Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett.
He has served on the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility; as a Trustee of the Iowa Law School Foundation; as a member of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church, and as a member of The Episcopal Diocese of Iowa Diocesan Council.
Christopher Rowe, CFA
Managing Director, Investments
Church Pension Group
Christopher Rowe is a Managing Director of CPG. He is responsible for leading CPG’s socially responsible investment engagement strategy and outreach initiatives. He works to build relationships with companies in which CPG invests, peer organizations, The Episcopal Church, and other stakeholders with similar values. Additionally, he works on behalf of the Chief Investment Officer to oversee various aspects of administration for the Investments Department, including communications and compliance.
Prior to CPG, Christopher was Chief of Staff to the CEO of PGIM, Prudential Financial’s asset management business, where he was responsible for wide-ranging activities including business administration, external relations, and sustainability. Earlier in his career, he worked directly with institutions and faith-based investors on strategies for integrating values with investments.
He received a BA in Economics from Haverford College and an MBA in Finance from New York University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
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