The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda

The book titled `The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda' by Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik and David Pitt-Watson is progressive read in terms of explaining the rise of a new civil economy. It explains the Circle of Accountability to the new capitalists drawing parallels to a civil society. One thing is clear, that this book is published, that there are instances that have triggered this thinking, that there are rules, regulations, standards that are being rewritten, are all signs of progress. That capital fuels reform is undeniable. Only now, the capital belongs to the working class as opposed to the individually rich. That corporate governance has a direct correlation to higher valuations of the company, other related benefits namely creation of more jobs is undeniable but what I found most interesting was that "momentum" of corporate governance reform at a company is a key influence on equity price performance. I think the new civil economy affords new ways for investors to be engaged with a company but in the end it could come down to a matter of how many people can you actually have in the driver's seat as opposed to it being a matter of fair and complete disclosure and even then it might be open to interpretation. Since the society and shareholder are one and the same, it follows that companies should act in the interests of society at large. These universal owners expect companies to perform a certain way, which is no different from what we know as common sense. For example, creation of value is not a new principle. It still is the appropriate way to behave. That there are myriad of standards to follow is itself a huge deterrent for a company. A possible solution might be the Global Compact, which is but slowly emerging as a standard. In essence, the individuals who own stock in the biggest corporations of the world have a majority over the individual rich. However, to simplify the concept, I am gong to use an example. An individual A owns 2% GE vs. individuals B through Z who combined own more than 30% of GE. For the B-Z group to make a difference they have to work together and the way they do that is through institutional investors, web collaborative tools such as, Wikis, rating services, investor advocacy tools, independent auditors, audit certifying agencies and the like. These collectively are the new 'information moguls'. The book nicely ends with a memo to the various players in the new economic ecosystem. Whether it is sustained, is to be seen in the future. For now, this book offers a lot of hope to someone who believes business does a lot of good for economies and societies.

The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda tells of how smaller, grassroots business owners are blending the concept of value into their business, differing markedly from traditional Wall Street approaches and influencing the course of business ideas of achievement as a whole. Civil Ownership is powering a new idea of corporate structure and responsibility, and THE NEW CAPITALISTS documents this evolving change, making it an important acquisition for college-level business holdings seeking more than idealistic vision. Practical business applications that work well with value-added ideas make for a powerful coupling of philosophy, ideal and business savvy. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

I will admit to thinking that pension funds like CalPERS were a bunch of meddlesome activists who were throwing their weight around. But after reading The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping The Corporate Agenda by Stephen Davis, Jon Lukomnik, and David Pitt-Watson, my views have been significantly altered. The true owners of corporations are now stepping up and demanding accountability. Contents: Part 1 - The New Capitalists: The Civil Economy - The Democratization of Ownership; Business Past - The Uncivil Economy Part 2 - The New Capitalist Circle of Accountability: The Future Corporation - A Capitalist Manifesto; Institutional Investors - Mobilizing Ownership; Boards of Directors - A New Accountability Part 3 - The New Capitalist Ecosystem: Monitoring the Market - The Information Moguls; Accounting Standards - Escaping Brother Luca's Boxes; NGOs and Capital - Civil Society Meets the Civil Economy Part 4 - The New Capitalist Agenda: Action Memos - The New Capitalist Agenda; Epilogue Notes; Selected Bibliography; Index; About the Authors The authors start out by making the point that corporations are no longer held solely by rich individuals and families. The largest investors in many cases are mutual and pension funds that represent millions of individuals. The capital they provide are the savings and retirement dollars of the man on the street, therefore making people like you and I the real owners in corporate America. And rather than just being share"holders" looking for a quick trade, these large funds are becoming share"owners". They are demanding accountability from company management and the board of directors, and they will bring about change if it doesn't happen. The recognition of this ownership role (as well as the use of it) is leading to partnerships between groups that were formerly antagonistic towards each other. The new Capitalist Agenda that the authors advance is the roadmap for how both of these groups can work with each other and mutually benefit from the partnership. I used to think that corporations should be relatively free to do what they thought was necessary to conduct business. But the abuses of Enron, WorldCom, and many others cured me of that misconceptions. Instead of viewing these funds as drains on corporate America, I now see them as a vital balance of power. The New Capitalists helped me to solidify those thoughts and clarify my viewpoints. An interesting read...