Latest news with #InstitutionalShareholderServices
AU Financial Review
5 days ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Influential proxy adviser Vas Kolesnikoff to leave ISS
One of the country's most influential proxy advisers, Vas Kolesnikoff, is leaving Institutional Shareholder Services, one of the big firms that advises major investors on how best to direct their votes at company annual meetings. Kolesnikoff, who had been a thorn in the side of Australia's biggest companies, has headed up Australian research for the global group ISS for a decade.
Business Insider
20-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
MAG Silver says ISS recommends vote in favor of merger
MAG Silver (MAG) announced that Institutional Shareholder Services issued a report recommending that MAG shareholders vote for the special resolution approving the previously announced plan of arrangement with Pan American Silver (PAAS). Under the terms of the arrangement, shareholders will be able to elect to receive the consideration as either: $20.54 in cash per MAG Share, or $0.0001 in cash and 0.755 Pan American shares per MAG share. The arrangement will be voted on at the meeting to be held on July 10. Confident Investing Starts Here:
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proxy Warfare
It's tough being a proxy advisor: One minute, they're providing shareholder voting recommendations, and the next, they're being accused of operating a cartel. The big proxy advisory firms — Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis — have come under fire from Congress, lobbying groups, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon. The Securities and Exchange Commission may also be considering ways to limit their power and influence. Just over a month ago, the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets held a hearing entitled: 'Exposing the Proxy Advisory Cartel: How ISS & Glass Lewis Influence Markets.' Such firms, which provide consulting services to public companies, are widely used by mutual fund and exchange traded fund managers to provide proxy voting recommendations for investors. But Dimon, who has long been critical of the big proxy advisors, reportedly called them a 'cancer,' according to Pensions & Investments. And there are at least six proposed bills in the House aimed at limiting proxy advisors' power. READ ALSO: Asset Managers Aren't Playing the Dual Share Class Waiting Game and Trump's Truth Social Files for Bitcoin ETF One of the founders of ISS, Nell Minow, who left the company in 1990 and is now chair of Value Edge Advisors, said the push against the big two proxy advisory firms is much ado about nothing. 'ISS and Glass Lewis are in business. They are for-profit entities, and they ask their clients, 'What do you want from us?'' Minnow said. 'There is no possible way that anybody could object to them being too powerful. That's a kill-the-messenger strategy.' The campaign against proxy advisors is related to the widespread push against environmental, social, and governance criteria used in investment decision-making. Critics of proxy advisors have accused the firms of pressuring public companies to align themselves with progressive causes, including diversity, equity, and inclusion. And because the firms consult with public companies, they have an inherent conflict of interest, opponents have said. 'Two firms — ISS and Glass Lewis — control 97% of the proxy advisory market. That concentration alone would warrant scrutiny,' Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., said during the April hearing. 'But more troubling is how their influence goes far beyond research — they now routinely dictate outcomes of shareholder votes.' That point, Minow said, is actually something the corporate world should find appealing, as 96% of recommendations by ISS and Glass Lewis have been to vote with companies' board recommendations. And even so, the results of shareholder votes are often nonbinding, and public companies sometimes ignore them, she said. In response to the push against activist shareholder campaigns and ESG, several big asset managers have added programs that let fund investors direct how their shares are voted: BlackRock's Voting Choice program applies to nearly half of the firm's $6.3 trillion index equity assets. State Street's proxy voting choice program includes 81% of its eligible index equity assets, or about $1.9 trillion. Vanguard's Investor Choice option applies to $1 trillion in assets in equity index funds, and the company plans to expand it. Limited Choice: 'For a decade I've been saying that ISS is fundamentally conflicted — they make their money by selling data to corporations,' said Andy Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, noting that even the most left-leaning voting policy it provides sides with CEO pay and corporate boards about 80% of the time. People who opt for the sustainable voting policies offered by ISS and Glass Lewis 'think they're voting aligned with sustainability, but they're not,' he said. 'I don't understand why the right is attacking them so hard.' This post first appeared on The Daily Upside. To receive exclusive news and analysis of the rapidly evolving ETF landscape, built for advisors and capital allocators, subscribe to our free ETF Upside newsletter. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Nikkei Asia
07-06-2025
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Takeda CEO Christophe Weber faces opposition to board reelection
TOKYO -- U.S. proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is recommending shareholders vote against the reelection of Takeda Pharmaceuticals CEO Christophe Weber to the Japanese drugmaker's board, according to Takeda. Takeda does not support the recommendation, and it is calling on shareholders to vote in favor of all proposals made by the company at the annual general meeting on June 25.
Japan Times
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Japan Times
ISS reverses stance and backs Toyota chief's reappointment
A firm that advises large investors backed the reappointment of Chairman Akio Toyoda to Toyota's board, reversing its position from a year ago. "There are no particular concerns about the nominee,' Institutional Shareholder Services said in a report Thursday. The world's No. 1 carmaker will hold its annual meeting June 12. ISS, Glass Lewis and other proxy advisory firms can influence voting at shareholder meetings by providing an analysis for why stakeholders should support or reject proposals on directors and other matters. Last year, ISS and Glass Lewis recommended against Toyoda's re-election, citing concerns over governance and his handling of a series of vehicle safety scandals, as well as Toyota's commitment to reducing its impact on climate change. Representatives for Toyota didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Shareholder support for Toyoda, whose grandfather founded the company, has been slipping in recent years. More than a quarter of votes cast at last year's annual meeting opposed his reappointment. His share of affirmative votes dropped to 72%, from 85% and 96% in the prior two years. Toyoda has said that his seat on the board could be at risk if shareholder support continues to decline. "No board member in Toyota's history has seen their support fall so low,' he said in a podcast interview with Toyota Times, the company's media outlet, in July 2024. Toyoda has long been the face of the company, which he led from 2009 until 2023, when he ceded the chief executive officer role to Koji Sato. Last year's regulatory scandals caused Toyoda's opposition to spread among big shareholders, including Nissay Asset Management and Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management. The scandals began with government probes that uncovered falsified vehicle safety certifications in December 2023 at a pair of subsidiaries — Daihatsu Motor and Toyota Industries — then a few months later at the carmaker itself. This year, the focus could fall on Toyoda's ¥6 trillion ($41.7 billion) plan to buy out Toyota Industries, and whether the take-private deal by the founding family will help or hurt the carmaker's push to improve corporate governance. Toyoda owns less than 1% of Toyota Motor, while Toyota Industries — a major forklift manufacturer and producer of car parts and textile machinery — has a 9.1% stake in the carmaker. Much depends on how these holdings are rationalized if and when the deal proceeds. Voting at shareholder meetings in Japan are becoming more consequential, as the government urges businesses to unwind ownership of stock in each other. That's triggered a broader dissolution of cross-held shares among the country's biggest companies, those including between Toyota and its suppliers, affiliates and banks.
