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Florida attorney general investigates proxy advisors (2025)
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) announced last week that his office is launching an antitrust investigation into Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the two largest proxy advisory firms.
ISS and Glass Lewis control over 90% of the proxy advisory market and can influence how institutional investors, including pension funds, vote in corporate elections—particularly on ESG issues. Florida’s investigation questions whether this concentrated influence (and the advisors’ historical preference for ESG-focused recommendations) is guiding pension fund votes in a way that conflicts with the political and financial priorities of Republican-led states.
According to West Orlando News:
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The Florida AG directed an investigation into proxy advisors Glass Lewis & Co. and Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) for potential misrepresentations related to their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) investing policies in violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and possible unlawful collusion in adopting and enforcing these policies in violation of the Florida Antitrust Act of 1980. Civil Investigative Demands will be forthcoming according to the Florida Attorney General. “We won’t allow ESG goals to handcuff Florida businesses and threaten Floridians investments,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “If these proxy advisors use their overwhelming market power to advance partisan political agendas rather than maximizing shareholder value, we will hold them accountable.” Glass Lewis and ISS provide vote recommendations to institutional investors and control a large share of the proxy-advisory market, with some estimates as high as 97%. Institutional investors, such as those who manage the portfolios of many Americans’ retirement accounts, rely on proxy advisors to direct them on how to vote their shares. Thus, the decisions of proxy advisors have a substantial influence over how major American companies are run.[1] |
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See also
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's ESG newsletter
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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