PNC shareholder proposal seeks diversity stats
Stockholders of PNC Financial Services Group are being asked to vote on a shareholder proposal asking Pittsburgh’s biggest bank to be more open about its hiring and other policies aimed at ensuring a diversified workplace.
“Research indicates that a diverse and inclusive workforce with strong family-friendly policies is good for business,” said the investment management firm Trillium Asset Management, which is sponsoring the proposal on behalf of Portfolio 21 Global Equity Fund.
The proposal, which is to be presented at PNC’s annual shareholders meeting April 25 in Pittsburgh, asks the bank to prepare a diversity report disclosing the gender and race makeup of certain job categories that companies are required to report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Trillium also wants PNC to detail its diversity initiatives.
PNC’s board of directors is recommending that shareholders vote against the resolution, saying the bank was “seriously committed to increasing gender and racial diversity in the workplace,” but that it didn’t believe adoption of the proposal would enhance its commitment.
“We do not believe that public dissemination of the EEO-1 reported information, which could be manipulated or misinterpreted by those with interests adverse to PNC, is appropriate,” the board wrote in the proxy statement filed Wednesday for PNC’s annual shareholders meeting.
The board also noted that a description of PNC’s diversity programs and policies was contained in reports on its website.
Besides PNC, Trillium has been pressing the same issue with a “large slate” of other financial services and technology companies, according to Trillium’s website.
Bank of New York Mellon, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan are some of the leading financial companies that publicly disclose EEOC data, Trillium said.
PNC’s proxy also showed that William Demchak, chairman and CEO, was paid salary, bonuses and other compensation worth $13.14 million in 2016, up 3.3 percent from $12.72 million in 2015.