By Ross Kerber

March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. corporations are rushing to drop diversity, equity and inclusion $(DEI)$ considerations in the face of political pressure, but not all executives are moving at the same rate.

Case in point: the proxy adviser industry, whose two main players have taken different paths.

You can read my take on this in this week's main story below. (There's no official column this week as our coverage schedule got jammed up.)

Some other story topics linked below include a look at a U.S. Supreme Court hearing related to firearms, a big Panama Canal purchase by a BlackRock-backed consortium, and the sudden departure of Kroger's CEO.

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Glass Lewis mostly stands by boardroom diversity

Proxy adviser Glass Lewis has told clients it will continue to consider boardroom diversity when advising how to vote at U.S. company annual meetings, but plans to lay out the counter-argument for critical vote recommendations to help clients avoid rising political risks.

The change comes amid a wave of retreat by U.S. corporations from their DEI efforts, under threat of legal action by U.S. President Donald Trump's Justice Department.

The move by Glass Lewis amounts to a middle course. Its rival Institutional Shareholder Services last month said it would no longer consider diversity when making its boardroom recommendations, also citing the administration's orders.

I ran this by Chong Shu, assistant professor of finance at the University of Utah, who has studied the field. He told me it makes economic sense that ISS and Glass Lewis would want to avoid selling exactly the same policies, which would drive down prices.

"Now, suppose the two advisors offer different policies, then the market will segment and both advisors would have market powers. If investor A likes DEI stuff, then they will come to one advisor; other investors that dislike DEI would go to the other advisor. In this case, both advisors have some pricing power, and both advisors' profit would be higher," Shu told me via email.

You can read this week's main story by clicking here.

Company news

A BlackRock BLK.N-backed investor group agreed to buy a majority stake in a key Panama Canal port operator from Hong Kong's CK Hutchinson, 0001.HK giving a U.S. firm control of key docks amid White House pressure to take them from China.

U.S. Supreme Court justices signaled sympathy to a bid by gunmaker Smith & Wesson SWBI.O and distributor Interstate Arms to throw out a Mexican government lawsuit accusing them of aiding illegal firearms trafficking.

Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen resigned after a board review found his personal conduct inconsistent with company policies. The grocer did not fully explain the surprise exit but said it was not related to financial operations or reporting, and that it did not involve any Kroger associates.

On my radar

The European Commission gave automakers a longer timespan, three years, to meet new CO2 emission targets for their cars and vans. Meeting the goal will depend on selling more electric vehicles.

Markets no longer think Trump is full of bluster, which was how many investors viewed him during his first term in office. In their analysis my colleagues review how investors are moving quickly to anticipate a slowdown in U.S. and global growth as Trump raises a wall of tariffs around the world's biggest economy.

Top mutual fund manager Vanguard joined BlackRock in resuming stewardship meetings with portfolio companies. Both firms will try to show they are not acting to pressure the companies, which would trigger new filing requirements.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by David Gregorio)

((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))