Azzad signs letter endorsing database of business activities in Israeli settlements

Following a decision by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights not to release a UN database cataloging business activities in illegal settlements built in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Azzad has joined a group of more than 90 investors calling on the organization to make the listings public. Addressed to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, the letter says in part: The undersigned organizations commend your Office on the three years of work undertaken to fulfill the mandate outlined by the UN Human Rights Council (‘the Council’) in resolution 31/36 to “produce a database of all business enterprises involved” in Israeli settlements. However, we note with concern the recent media reports indicating your intention to further delay release of the report. Continued delay in releasing the database would inhibit the Council’s ability to provide transparency to the Palestinian people, all member-states, as well as investors that require authoritative sources of data on which to make sound investment decisions. The letter goes on to note that the database is essential to understanding the implications of settlement activities on the human rights of Palestinians. It states with concern that “some private entities have enabled, facilitated and profited from the construction

April 8, 2019 No Comments

Shareholders tell Google to rethink China search product

Shareholders tell Google to rethink China search product and prioritize human rights (Falls Church, Va., Feb. 27, 2019) — A coalition of Google shareholders has filed a resolution asking the company to publish a human rights impact assessment for a controversial censored search product — called “Dragonfly” — that Google is reportedly developing for use in China. Led by Azzad Asset Management, the shareholders are concerned that Google’s compliance with China’s repressive laws would facilitate and legitimize surveillance and censorship, posing serious human rights risks. The shareholders’ call to action at Google is timely given recent reports that Google is already censoring its search product in Russia, blacklisting websites according to government instructions. India’s government is considering new rules that could again implicate Google in censorship. Open MIC, a non-profit that fosters shareholder engagement at leading tech and media companies, developed the proposal alongside lead filer Azzad, a socially responsible investment firm based in Virginia. The group of filers includes institutional and individual investors representing over $3 billion in assets under management. In submitting the resolution, shareholders are asking Google to demonstrate that the company’s stated ethical codes, values, and policies are truly informing all its products in the global

February 27, 2019 No Comments

Azzad joins Investor Alliance for Human Rights

New initiative will press corporations to uphold human rights Falls Church, Va., February 1, 2018 — Azzad Asset Management announced today that it has joined faith-based investing colleagues in an alliance to oppose rollbacks on regulations and to encourage policies for corporations that protect human rights. Launched by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the Investor Alliance for Human Rights (IAHR) provides a platform for collective action to protect human rights in the United States and internationally. The consortium participates in a range of investor actions to help businesses protect human rights, including investor letters, corporate engagements, and discussions with businesses and non-governmental organizations. The IAHR focuses on encouraging the business community to more fully implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which provide a global framework to help companies assess and address human rights risks in their operations and supply chains. ICCR established the alliance to create an umbrella organization for the investment community to advocate more immediately, consistently, and strategically to protect human rights and to act as a deterrent against legislative and regulatory rollbacks. See: http://iccr.org/our-issues/human-rights/investor-alliance-human-rights This IAHR is supported by funding from Humanity United and Open Society Foundations. Participation in the alliance is open

February 1, 2018 No Comments

Azzad joins coalition asking CEOs to oppose Pres. Trump’s refugee and immigrant ban

(Falls Church, Va., 2/2/17) — Azzad Asset Management has joined other socially responsible investment institutions in signing a coalition letter to the 19 CEOs who are members of President Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum, asking them to exercise their influence to oppose the president’s recent executive order barring refugees and certain immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries. In addition to public outcry against the ban on humanitarian and constitutional grounds, many have pointed out the negative impact of barring international workers on the economy, including several of the CEOs on the presidential forum. Written by the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable, the Institute for Human Rights and Business, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the letter calls on these business leaders to use their position on the Strategic and Policy Forum to: speak out strongly against the president’s executive order and work to have it rescinded, encourage the president to ensure respect for all workers without discrimination, and urge the U.S. government to align corporate policies with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The letter was signed by 64 socially responsible investment firms and human rights and religious organizations. The Strategic and Policy Forum’s first meeting is scheduled for February 3. The

February 2, 2017 No Comments

Buy stock. Save the world.

We’ve been talking a lot about shareholder advocacy at Azzad recently–and about how it’s a largely untapped way for concerned citizens to take action on issues we care about. For those who aren’t familiar with it, shareholder advocacy refers to actions taken by stock investors (shareholders) to ask the companies whose stock they own to improve or change behavior for the public good. Think of asking an energy company to use more renewables or a technology company to end purchases of conflict minerals. If you invest in stocks, you can participate in shareholder advocacy. We recently used shareholder advocacy to take action on an issue many people feel isn’t getting the attention it should – the human rights abuses faced by the Rohingya minority in Burma at the hands of its government. In November 2016, the United Nations said that abuses perpetrated against the Rohingya by the Burmese military may amount to crimes against humanity. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported that the Rohingya are “at grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even genocide.” During the fall filing season, Azzad partnered with a Catholic religious organization, the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, to file the first shareholder resolution submitted

December 30, 2016 No Comments

Why Azzad didn’t invest in private prisons

When the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it would stop contracting with for-profit prison operators, Azzad’s investment team remembered why we chose not to invest in private prisons. At Azzad, we follow internationally accepted criteria for Islamic investing: avoiding interest, leverage, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and pork products. We also implement selected additional social justice screens that we believe are in line with the universal faith imperative to protect people and the environment. For example, we don’t invest in weapons producers or companies practicing the devastating drilling practice known as fracking. Sometimes we hear from clients about these additional screens. “The traditional screens are already strict,” they tell us. “Why do you add more?” The answer is two-fold: because we believe it’s the right thing to do and we believe doing the right thing pays off in the long run. Yesterday we saw a great example of this when the DOJ made its announcement, dealing a major blow to the for-profit prison industry. Here’s the background. In May 2015, a REIT (real estate investment trust) company called Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW) passed Azzad’s financial ratio screens. CCA is one of the biggest players in the private prison

August 22, 2016 No Comments