Republican treasurers push back against world’s largest proxy advisor (2024)
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Fifteen Republican state treasurers sent a letter to Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)—the world’s largest proxy advisory service—on September 5, arguing the company’s proxy recommendations were biased, citing a report by Consumers Research. According to the Washinton Examiner:
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The group of 15 state financial officers is targeting the benchmark policy of Institutional Shareholder Services, a massive proxy advisory firm that gives shareholders recommendations on how to vote on corporate issues. The Republican officers argued in a letter sent Thursday that ISS’s basic benchmark policy is skewed and that ISS advised votes for ESG priorities far in excess of the market. … The treasurers outlined their grievances in the letter, citing a report from the conservative nonprofit group Consumers’ Research, which is known for opposing corporate ESG. The group reviewed 192 climate-related shareholder proposals that ISS’s benchmark policy appeared to recommend voting for. The report found that just 17% of those proposals received majority support, showing that ISS’s benchmark policy was out of step with the market. The group contends that ISS heavily favors ESG policies even when there is not a demand for them. The treasurers took umbrage to remarks from Lorraine Kelly, ISS’s global head of investments stewardship, who said during a March CNBC appearance that ISS’s benchmark was 'pretty centrist.'[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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