In a room in the United States this summer, a paragraph of text was changed that heralded a remarkable shift.

The Business Roundtable, an influential group which represents the chief executives of 181 of America’s largest companies, amended its two decade-old declaration that “corporations exist principally to serve their shareholders”.

Instead, the Roundtable said: “While each of our individual companies serves its own corporate purpose, we share a fundamental commitment to all of our stakeholders” — customers, employees, suppliers, communities and — last in the list — shareholders. The new wording tore up the hitherto dominant “shareholder first” doctrine and attests to changing views on how companies should be run and, by extension, how investors should deploy capital responsibly.