JUST Capital and Forbes Release Inaugural "JUST 100 List," Ranking Companies Performing Best on American Public's Priorities

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- JUST Capital and Forbes today released the inaugural "JUST 100 List," which ranks the publicly traded companies in America that perform best on the priorities of the American public. This is the first-ever annual ranking of how America's top companies perform on the issues Americans care most about.  The rankings are based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on attitudes towards corporate behavior, involving 50,000 Americans over the last 18 months. This year's list ranks U.S companies against their peers within 32 major industries. In future years, Forbes and JUST Capital will rank companies across industries.

For the complete list and more, visit: forbes.com/just100. The inaugural JUST 100 ranking of America's most just companies will appear in Forbes magazine's December 20 "Impact and Philanthropy" issue.   

"JUST Capital started with the question 'What if we could see which companies use their capital not simply to maximize profits, but to create a more just marketplace for all stakeholders?' And today, we can see that some of the biggest companies in America – some of the most important companies in the world – are doing that, at a huge scale," said Paul Tudor Jones II, co-founder and board chair of the JUST Capital Foundation. "The rankings and data can empower all of us – consumers, employees, employers, investors – to interact differently with the companies that define today's economy."

"The JUST 100 List is the most authoritative, unbiased source of data about how corporations perform on the things people in the U.S. care about most. The list combines powerful insights into how Americans feel about corporate behavior with an unprecedented view of how our leading corporations stack up," explained Forbes editor Randall Lane. "Forbes' partnership with JUST Capital is an exciting and important one for us and we look forward to growing this work in the coming years."

JUST Capital conducted its survey in partnership with NORC at the University of Chicago, an independent research institution that delivers data and rigorous analysis to guide programmatic, business and policy decisions. JUST then evaluated the performance of over 890 publicly traded companies against the priorities that emerged in the survey and created a ranking model to develop the JUST 100 List. This selection of companies draws from the Russell 1000 Index, which represents over 90 percent of the U.S. stock market value.

The top six issues ranked highly by the public, in order, were: providing a fair pay for industry and job level; non-discrimination in hiring, firing, and promotion practices; providing a safe workplace; following laws and regulations; respecting workers; and creating jobs in the U.S. JUST's scoring system is weighted to reflect the relative importance of the public's stated priorities. JUST Capital's full methodology is available online at justcapital.com/methodology as both an interactive guide and a comprehensive report.

The 2016 most just companies in America within 32 major industries are (in alphabetical order by industry):

• Aerospace & Defense: Rockwell Collins
• Automobile & Components: Ford Motor
• Banks: SVB Financial
• Capital Goods: Fluor
• Capital Markets: Legg Mason
• Chemicals: Eastman Chemical
• Commercial & Professional Services: Verisk Analytics
• Consumer & Diversified Finance: American Express
• Consumer Durables & Apparel: Whirlpool
• Consumer Services: Marriott International
• Energy Equipment & Services: Oceaneering International
• Food & Staples Retailing: Sysco
• Food, Beverage, & Tobacco: PepsiCo
• Healthcare Equipment & Services: Varian Medical Systems
• Healthcare Providers & Services: Humana
• Household & Personal Products: Colgate-Palmolive
• Insurance: XL Group
• Internet Software & Services: Alphabet
• Information Technology Services: Accenture
• Machinery: Cummins
• Materials: Freeport-McMoRan
• Media: Discovery Communications
• Oil, Gas, & Consumable Fuels: Pioneer Natural Resources
• Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences: Amgen
• Real Estate: Jones Lang LaSalle
• Retailing: CarMax
• Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment: NVIDIA
• Software: Microsoft
• Technology Hardware & Equipment: F5 Networks
• Telecommunications: AT&T
• Transportation: Southwest Airlines
• Utilities: Exelon

JUST Capital and Forbes previously released comprehensive 2016 survey results, which define what ordinary Americans value in corporate behavior, including how different demographic and economic groups see the relative importance of competing priorities. Comprehensive market research results are available at justcapital.com/market-research. Key findings include:

• Overwhelmingly, Americans identified worker pay, benefits and treatment as the defining issues for corporate America.
• The integrity of corporate leaders is a top priority among Americans.
• Americans are positive about business, even while trust in corporations remains low. A majority believes corporations have become less just in the last decade.
• An overwhelming majority indicate they will use information on just corporate behavior in purchasing, employment and investing choices.

JUST will also make the rankings accessible and sortable on its website, justcapital.com. Its interactive "Explorer" tool goes inside the rankings to show how companies were scored.

JUST Capital completed its research with funding from the Ford Foundation, the MCJ Amelior Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Virgin Unite. JUST and Forbes worked with GoodData, Sprinklr and Viget Labs on their technology tools and with audit advisors Marks Paneth and legal advisors Andrews Kurth Kenyon. Glassdoor also provided research support.

Additionally, the top ranked company in each industry will be able to use an "America's Most JUST Companies" seal in packaging and marketing.

About JUST Capital
The JUST Capital Foundation (justcapital.com) is an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3), founded in 2013, that is establishing the definitive source of information and rankings on how large publicly traded corporations measure up against the American people's definition of JUST business behavior. The organization's mission is to leverage the power of the markets to drive positive change on the issues Americans care most about. Chaired and co-founded by Paul Tudor Jones II, and led by a staff with a breadth of finance, social sector, and technology experience, the Foundation's board includes Ray Chambers, Jeff Walker, Marc Morial, Ann Veneman, Dan Hesse, Deepak Chopra, and Arianna Huffington, amongst others.

About Forbes Media
Forbes Media is a global media, branding and technology company, with a focus on news and information about business, investing, technology, entrepreneurship, leadership and affluent lifestyles. The company publishes Forbes, Forbes Asia, and Forbes Europe magazines as well as Forbes.com. The Forbes brand today reaches 98 million people worldwide with its business message each month through its magazines and 37 licensed local editions around the globe, Forbes.com, TV, conferences, research and social and mobile platforms. Forbes Media's brand extensions include conferences, real estate, education, financial services and technology license agreements.

Contacts:       

Stu Loeser
[email protected] 
646-650-5501

Christina Vega
[email protected] 
212-206-5155

SOURCE JUST Capital

Related Links

http://justcapital.com