ISS Releases Proxy Voting Policy Updates

Compensation issues continue to be the major focus for investors heading into the 2008 U.S. Proxy season, and as a result, proxy voting policy updates have been released by RiskMetrics Group’s ISS Governance Services unit.

The U.S., Canadian, U.K., and international updates will be applied to all companies with shareholder meeting dates on or after February 1, 2008, and were compiled by ISS's global research team after it collected and compiled feedback from clients worldwide and in a variety of industry constituencies and key markets.

The strong level of voting support for proposals seeking advisory votes on Say on Pay indicated that more U.S. companies may adopt resolutions next season.  As a result, ISS Governance Services is adopting a case-by-case analysis approach in advance of potential Say-on-Pay management resolutions in the United States.

Assessment of pay programs will be based on five global principles and U.S. market guidelines, which includes an evaluation of the board’s stewardship of investors’ interests regarding compensation practices.

The ISS Governance Services unit’s global research team conducted extensive policy outreach activities worldwide throughout the year to collect feedback from clients, a variety of industry constituencies, and key markets.

“RiskMetrics Group’s ISS Governance Services unit continues to build on its open and transparent policy formulation process, which serves as the best cornerstone of our proxy voting policies and vote recommendations,” Cheryl Gustitus, head of marketing and communications at RiskMetrics, said in a statement. "Our 2007 Policy Survey had the broadest response to-date from our institutional investor clients. We also added several new initiatives to make our policy formulation process more robust this year, including an international comment period and meetings with shareholder proponents. More so every year, we are confident that our policies reflect the collective voice of institutional investors worldwide."