THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY FAVORS A VOTE AGAINST THE PROPOSAL FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
Berkshire’s Board recommends a “no” vote on this proposal. The Board does not believe issuing a report addressing if and how Berkshire intends to measure, disclose and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with its underwriting, insuring and investment activities is necessary.
The primary business of Berkshire’s insurance operations is to monitor, assess and price risk at an expected economic profit to address the risk-transfer needs of its insurance customers. The insurance risks associated with climate change are assessed within the enterprise risk management framework, along with the adoption of climate-specific risk management procedures. These procedures include stress testing and review of post-stress metrics as well as consideration of the frequency and severity of weather events and regulatory adjustments that may impact underwriting decisions or adversely impact future operating results.
Berkshire’s Board periodically receives reports on the major risks and opportunities of Berkshire’s operating businesses. The insurance operations’ continual assessment of the risk of natural disasters, strong underwriting controls to limit exposure and stress testing lead the Board to conclude that climate-related risks within the insurance group are appropriately monitored and managed within the Board’s risk appetite. The Board recommends that our shareholders vote against this proposal.
Proxies given without instruction will be voted AGAINST this shareholder proposal.
Meredith Benton of Whistle Stop Capital, on behalf of Myra K. Young, owner of shares of Berkshire Common Stock with a value in excess of $2,000 for at least three years, intends to present for action at the meeting the following proposal.
Resolved: Shareholders request that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire”) report to shareholders on the effectiveness of the Company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The report should be done at reasonable expense, exclude proprietary information, and provide transparency on outcomes, using quantitative metrics for hiring, retention, and promotion of employees, including data by gender, race, and ethnicity.
Supporting Statement: Quantitative data is sought so that investors can assess and compare the effectiveness of companies’ diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Whereas: At the April 2022, Berkshire Annual Meeting, in response to a shareholder resolution with the same data disclosure request as this one, Warren Buffett stated, “If I’d been born female, black in various other countries, I would not have had remotely the life that I’ve enjoyed.” He also stated that “40 or 50 years ago” corporate America was a “boys’ club” and that how it treats Black individuals has not “changed by a substantial margin.”
Mr. Buffett, however, indicated an inaccurate understanding of the request being made by these shareholder resolutions, stating, “the idea that we should replace any of the people that run the businesses…I just don’t think that’s the way to operate.”
These shareholder resolutions do not seek to replace well-performing managers. They seek to understand how well Berkshire companies are hiring, promoting, and retaining the best possible employees.
Numerous studies have pointed to the benefits of a diverse workforce. Findings include:
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Companies with high executive ethnic diversity were 33 percent more likely to have financial returns above their industry medians than those with low executive ethnic diversity.11 |
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There was a positive association between diversity in management and cash flow, net profit, revenue, and return on equity.12 |
Researchers have found that White applicants receive an average of 36 percent more callbacks than Black applicants and 24 percent more callbacks than Latinx applicants.13 For every 100 men who are promoted, only 86 women are.14 Morgan Stanley has found that employee retention can indicate a competitive advantage and higher levels of future profitability.15
94 percent of the S&P100 have released, or have committed to release their EEO-1 forms, a best practice in diversity data reporting. In contrast, of the 63 companies listed on the Berkshire website,16 only one, Kraft Heinz, releases its EEO-1 form.
11 https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/delivering-through-diversity
12 https://www.asyousow.org/report-pages/workplace-diversity-and-financial-performance
13 https://hbr.org/2017/10/hiring-discrimination-against-black-americans-hasnt-declined-in-25-years
14 https://wiw-report.s3.amazonaws.com/Women_in_the_Workplace_2021.pdf
15 https://www.morganstanley.com/im/publication/insights/articles/article_culturequantframework_us.pdf
16 https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html
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