Allspring Global Investments

Rating Overview

Allspring Global Investments is Medium Risk.

Allspring Global Investments often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. Allspring occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	No Data
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	High Risk
Funding	Lower Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

Allspring has instituted ESG risk assessments as its “number one priority” into its investment analysis to help clients “integrate sustainability” into their portfolios (1). The company is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, incorporating ESG issues into investment analysis, decision-making, and other business practices (2)(3). However, Allspring has not publicly canceled business relationships based on political views or religious beliefs (4).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

Allspring does not publish charitable giving guidelines (1).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

Allspring appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its business structure through the establishment of gender targets for its proxy voting. Allspring is seeking “a gender-diversity standard requiring at least one woman on each board, regardless of company size” (1). Allspring does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

The company is a member of Climate Action 100+, committed to carbon neutrality by 2050 (1)(2). Allspring is a member of Ceres Network, which aims to encourage similar adherence to ESG goals in the finance industry (3)(4). The company’s CEO, Joseph A. Sullivan, signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace (5)(6). Allspring is committed to net zero emissions by 2050 (7). Allspring supports DEI within its business practices, employing a DEI Officer (8).