"benchmark companies" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
This phrase is typically used to describe companies which serve as reference points or standards of comparison in a certain industry or sector. For example, "Microsoft is seen as a benchmark company in the software industry, setting the standards for all others to follow."
"There are things going on all over the country all the time," said Edward A. H. Siedle, a securities lawyer and onetime fund regulator for the S.E.C. who now runs the Benchmark Companies, which audit pension funds.
Edward A.H. Siedle, president of the Center for Investment Management Investigations, a unit of the Benchmark Companies, investigates money management abuses on behalf of pensions in Ocean Ridge, Fla.
From initiatives using consumer pressure to tackle complex social issues to tools that aim to encourage investors to put their money into companies with a positive social impact, these projects attempt to measure and benchmark companies' impact.
On the bright side, 64% of experts polled say they use ratings at least once every few months to gain intelligence on a company's sustainability efforts, and 57% use them with similar frequency to benchmark companies against their peers.
"We believe that malfeasance within defined-contribution plans may significantly jeopardize the retirement security investors have in these plans," said Edward A.H. Siedle, president of the Center for Investment Management Investigations, a unit of the Benchmark Companies, that investigates money management abuses on behalf of pensions.
Other Benchmark companies include 1-800-Flowers.com, whish is down 50% to $5.88; Kana Communications, down 95% to $6.12; and Equinix, now trading at $5.38, down from a high of $16.50.
Ed Atorino, analyst at Benchmark Company, who monitors shares in the New York Times Company, is not a fan of the appointment.
Another analyst, Clayton Moran of the Benchmark Company, was more cautious, saying such a measure was "somewhat speculative".
As a benchmark company in electronic commerce, Amazon.com received intense scrutiny as it promised shareholders pro forma profitability by the end of 2001.
"It's a significant disappointment, but I don't think it's the end of the line," said Clay Moran, an analyst with the Benchmark Company.
"Novell is a very difficult deal to get done; there's a lot of moving parts," said Mark Schappel, a Benchmark Company senior software analyst.
