Biggs Keynotes Institutional Investors As Owners Conference
by Suehyun Kim, suehyun.kim
Issue date: 2/8/05 Section: News
Friday's conference hosted by the NYU Stern Markets, Ethics and Law Program and titled "Institutional Investors as Owners" featured John H. Biggs as keynote speaker.
The day included two panels and a lunchtime debate. The first panel, moderated by Professor Ingo Walter, featured three panelists - Lynn Turner, Managing Director of Research at Glass Lewis & Co.; Eric Roiter, General Counsel at Fidelity; and Professor Larry Zicklin - discussing a vastly underused weapon of investor activism in a panel titled "The Power of the Proxy".
Following the panel, attendees adjourned to the Commons for a three-course, sit-down lunch featuring speakers Roel Campos, Commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and Martin Lipton, Managing Partner of Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The lunch discussion was moderated by Professor William Allen.
The second panel, moderated by Professor Roy C. Smith on Institutional Activism, featured another three panelists: Dolph Bridgewater, Senior Consultant on Corporate Governance at TIAA-CREF; Nell Minnow, President and CEO of The Corporate Library; and Sister Patricia Wolf, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. As Professor Smith introduced the panel, he cited that Nell Minnow has been referred to by the media as the "Queen of Corporate Governance" and jokingly introduced the speakers as "a queen, a sister and a consultant", which foreshadowed the tone of discussion on the panel. Nell Minnow, who also maintains a career as a movie critic, shared her thoughts and a number of lively anecdotes, while Sister Patricia responded from the ICCR perspective while Dolph Bridgewater weighed in for TIAA-CREF.
The conference was oversubscribed and filled KMC 1-70 with alumni, students, investors, and industry luminaries. The most amusing point of the day came during the Q&A when one question was received from the audience which included several subparts and postulates and suppositions on Corporate Governance, Socially Responsible Investing, Shareholder Activism, Business Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and a few other topics ... and was cut short after two and half minutes when Professor Smith interrupted the inquirer saying, "you're getting to the point of exhausting our capacity to understand the question."
Nell Minnow's response began by guessing the inquirer had conflated four different issues and attempted to clarify some of the definitions while Sister Patricia shared thoughts on Institutional Activism from the point of view of Socially Responsible Investing proponents, and tried to clarify the distinction between the two.
This interchange perhaps best underscored the purpose of the Citigroup Ethics and Leadership Program - to foster the development of teaching programs through discussion, debate, and increased awareness of the subject of Leadership and Ethics, and its many sub-topics.
The day included two panels and a lunchtime debate. The first panel, moderated by Professor Ingo Walter, featured three panelists - Lynn Turner, Managing Director of Research at Glass Lewis & Co.; Eric Roiter, General Counsel at Fidelity; and Professor Larry Zicklin - discussing a vastly underused weapon of investor activism in a panel titled "The Power of the Proxy".
Following the panel, attendees adjourned to the Commons for a three-course, sit-down lunch featuring speakers Roel Campos, Commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and Martin Lipton, Managing Partner of Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz. The lunch discussion was moderated by Professor William Allen.
The second panel, moderated by Professor Roy C. Smith on Institutional Activism, featured another three panelists: Dolph Bridgewater, Senior Consultant on Corporate Governance at TIAA-CREF; Nell Minnow, President and CEO of The Corporate Library; and Sister Patricia Wolf, Executive Director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. As Professor Smith introduced the panel, he cited that Nell Minnow has been referred to by the media as the "Queen of Corporate Governance" and jokingly introduced the speakers as "a queen, a sister and a consultant", which foreshadowed the tone of discussion on the panel. Nell Minnow, who also maintains a career as a movie critic, shared her thoughts and a number of lively anecdotes, while Sister Patricia responded from the ICCR perspective while Dolph Bridgewater weighed in for TIAA-CREF.
The conference was oversubscribed and filled KMC 1-70 with alumni, students, investors, and industry luminaries. The most amusing point of the day came during the Q&A when one question was received from the audience which included several subparts and postulates and suppositions on Corporate Governance, Socially Responsible Investing, Shareholder Activism, Business Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and a few other topics ... and was cut short after two and half minutes when Professor Smith interrupted the inquirer saying, "you're getting to the point of exhausting our capacity to understand the question."
Nell Minnow's response began by guessing the inquirer had conflated four different issues and attempted to clarify some of the definitions while Sister Patricia shared thoughts on Institutional Activism from the point of view of Socially Responsible Investing proponents, and tried to clarify the distinction between the two.
This interchange perhaps best underscored the purpose of the Citigroup Ethics and Leadership Program - to foster the development of teaching programs through discussion, debate, and increased awareness of the subject of Leadership and Ethics, and its many sub-topics.