EMC Corporation (EMC), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), and Five Leading Companies in Corporate Governance

Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC), a major electric and gas utility with substantial nuclear energy operations, requires all of its directors, except the CEO, to be independent. Its governance standards include requiring directors to own at least 5,000 shares of company stock (recently worth about $180,000). Directors are also expected to disclose any conflicts of interest regularly.

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)’s governance policies include requiring at least two-thirds of directors to be independent ones. Directors are elected annually and must own at least 5,000 shares, which translates to about $400,000 these days. Key committees, such as Audit, Compensation, and Governance, are to be filled solely with independent directors.

Earning well while doing good
Companies doing good can boost your portfolio‘s performance. And various other studies have suggested that socially responsible investments are at least competitive with the overall market, if not outperforming it on occasion. That’s a solid motivation for even the most coolly rational investors to take social responsibility to heart.

If you’re in the market for solid socially responsible candidates for your portfolio, check out the real-money portfolio run by my colleague Alyce Lomax. Out of all the Fool portfolios in the group, hers was recently in first place.

The article 5 Leading Companies in Corporate Governance originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Exelon. The Motley Fool owns shares of EMC.

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