Business and Society Program

Aspen Principles

Aspen Principles for Long-Term Value Creation

Long-Term Value Creation: Guiding Principles for Corporations and Investors, a.k.a. the Aspen Principles, are explicitly written as aspirational guidelines for good business practice. In subscribing, and moving over time to implement these outcome-oriented principles in their own organizations, operating companies and investors are leading by example and taking a stand that a long-term focus is critical to long-term value creation.

 Download the Principles and a list of current signatories here.

Other Resources:

• Read Frequently Asked Questions for Corporate CEOs, a basic overview of the Principles and a guide to some of the questions that other CEOs have asked prior to making a formal endorsement.

• Read the latest In Focus or access an archived edition of our periodic e-reports on practices that support long-term value creation.

• Review a November 2008 summary of recommendations from Aspen and four other organizations concerned about market short-termism; this emerged from a September 2008 event held at Bloomberg LP’s NYC headquarters.

Those Citing the Principles:

Made to Stick authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath reference Judy Samuelson and BSP's work on short-termism and ending earnings guidance, citing the Aspen Principles in their second book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (February 2010).

In the October 2009 edition of the NMS Exchange newsletter, Casey Family Programs Chief Investment Officer Joseph Boateng wrote an article entitled, "The Significance of The Aspen Principles to Endowments and Foundations." The Seattle-based Casey Family Programs is the latest signatory of the Aspen Principles.

On September 1, John Seethoff, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Microsoft, highlighted the Aspen Principles in "A Principled Approach to Compensation Reform," a post in Microsoft's corporate blog, Microsoft on the Issues. 

On August 1, John Olson co-authored a report on delineation of governance roles and responsibilities, which cites the Aspen Principles. The report emerged from a task force formed by the Corporate Governance Committee of the ABA Section of Business Law to examine whether, in the large U.S. public corporation, the decision rights and responsibilities of shareholders and boards of directors are shifting and if so, the implications of any such shift.

On July 29, 2009 John Castellani, President of The Business Roundtable, referenced the Aspen Principles as evidence of the BRT's longstanding efforts to bolster corporate governance in a Congressional hearing, "Protecting Shareholders and Enhancing Public Confidence by Improving Corporate Governance." Mr. Castellani's speech is linked here on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs website.

Harvard Business School Professor Bill George and Henry Schacht, Managing Director and Senior Advisor of Warburg Pincus LLC New York, comment in a January Dow-Jones op-ed why 2008 is "a time for action," for executives, investors and policy makers to shed short-term thinking and adopt long-term value creation for the multiple stakeholders of a firm.

Also see our Press Page to see what others have been saying about the Principles, or where we've shared our thoughts on the Publications Page.