Foundations turning to shareholder role

With over $550 billion in investments, more foundations are trying to align their missions with the investments they make, and they are using proxy voting as a key tactic, a new report says.

In 2011, for example, five foundations are the primary filers on 29 shareholder resolutions, says Proxy Preview 2011, a review of the nearly 400 social and environmental resolutions that investors filed at companies this spring.