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A trio of activist investors is targeting Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, BofA, Wells Fargo and other big U.S. financial institutions in 2017, demanding they disclose compensation data for men and women, and publish statistics about the race and gender of their employees.

The investors - Arjuna Capital, Trillium Investments and Pax World Management – though relatively small, have succeeded in pushing technology goliaths such as Apple and Intel to divulge information about pay gaps. They justify their position by saying a diverse workforce produces better results.

• Boston-based Arjuna has filed proposals, typically voted on by shareholders at annual meetings, asking Bank of America, Wells Fargo, American Express Co. and Citigroup to report disparities in pay for male and female employees. It plans to file a similar proposal at JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Tuesday.
• Pax World Management, based in Portsmouth, NH, and oversees about $4 billion, filed five resolutions on gender pay equity this fall, including one at Goldman Sachs and one at Bank of New York Mellon Corp., which was co-filed with Arjuna. Pax said it’s in talks with both companies.
• Trillium Capital has filed resolutions seeking disclosure of data about race and gender at more than half a dozen financial companies, including T. Rowe Price, First Republic Bank, Travelers Cos., Jones Lang LaSalle, PNC Financial Services, Aflac, and Fifth Third Bancorp.

While only a tiny proportion of shareholder proposals actually go to a vote, and fewer pass, the activists said they aim to draw attention to the issue and get companies to engage with them.