Independence &
Objectivity Matter
Americans’ savings, from IRAs, 401(k)s and pension funds to college savings accounts, rely on independent and objective research that keeps public companies accountable to their shareholders. Some want to limit access to that research, putting millions of savers at risk.
Did you Know?
A 2025 Council of Institutional Investors (CII) survey found that a majority of surveyed investors ranked “Research and analysis” as the most valuable part of proxy advisers’ reports followed by “Efficiency and standardization of information," while a recent CII position paper, Proxy Advisors and Institutional Investors: Facts and Clarifications, argues that while “most investors utilize proxy advisory services, the fact remains that investors make their own voting decisions; they do not just follow proxy advisors’ voting recommendations.” Read more here.
Protect the Voice of Shareholders defends the right of institutional investors to rely on objective research, analysis and recommendations that safeguard accountability, strengthen governance, and protect retirement security.
Excessive or agenda-driven regulation of proxy research firms could impair the ability of institutional investors to help ensure effective corporate governance and accountability at the companies in which they own stock, which in turn can adversely impact the retirement savings of millions of Americans. It can also undermine the free market.
Safeguarding the independence and objectivity, quality, affordability, and timeliness of proxy advice is critical to investors and their stewardship and proxy voting obligations.
The research reports and analysis ISS provides are:
No partisan agenda, ISS investor clients ultimately decide how to vote their shares, not ISS.
Apolitical
Our investor clients use their own differentiated investment objectives to set the criteria, not ISS.
Independent
Advisory
For example, post-financial crisis Dodd-Frank legislation and the resulting 2011 SEC “say on pay” rule require publicly traded companies to let shareholders vote on executive compensation plans. Though these votes are advisory only, they still provide an important opportunity for investors to make their voices heard on this critical issue.
A Valuable Resource
To help manage the crush of voting responsibilities that come with their share ownership, and to help support their fiduciary duties, many institutional investors choose to contract with proxy advisory firms, like ISS, to seek the independent, timely, and cost-effective services.
One Input of Many
Institutional investors who do choose to subscribe to ISS’ research and recommendations consider this information to varying degrees, alongside their own in-house research and the views expressed by management and shareholder proponents. Investors may also directly engage with their portfolio companies on a variety of matters and take this engagement into account in deciding how to vote, consistent with their own fiduciary duties and in a manner that best advances the interests of their clients.
Apolitical
No partisan agenda, ISS investor clients ultimately decide how to vote their shares, not ISS.
Advisory
Post-financial crisis Dodd-Frank legislation and the resulting 2011 SEC “say on pay” rule requires publicly traded companies to let shareholders vote on executive compensation plans. Though these votes are advisory only, they still provide an important opportunity for investors to make their voices heard on this critical issue.
Independent
Our investor clients use their own differentiated investment objectives to set the criteria, not ISS.
A Valuable Resource
To help manage the crush of voting responsibilities that come with their share ownership, and to help support their fiduciary duties, many institutional investors choose to contract with proxy advisory firms, like ISS, to seek the independent, timely, and cost-effective services.
One Input of Many
Institutional investors who do choose to subscribe to ISS’ research and recommendations consider this information to varying degrees, alongside their own in-house research and the views expressed by management and shareholder proponents. Investors may also directly engage with their portfolio companies on a variety of matters and take this engagement into account in deciding how to vote, consistent with their own fiduciary duties and in a manner that best advances the interests of their own clients.
The research reports and analysis ISS provides is:
Courts are ruling
ISS and others have challenged recent regulations or statutes that they believe are improper and would hamper the ability of ISS and other proxy advisers to provide independent advice to clients, and courts to date have sided with ISS' interests in these challenges.
ABOUT US
Protect the Voice of Shareholders is a project of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), a SEC Registered Investment Adviser and leading provider of corporate governance research and support services. Safeguarding the independence, quality, affordability, and timeliness of proxy analysis and research is critical to investors, and investors should have unencumbered access to the federally regulated advisers and research they need to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. ISS is responsible for the site’s editorial and content approval.
The goal of Protect the Voice of Shareholders is simple: to correct misinformation about ISS and the role of proxy advisers, and to help ensure investors’ and shareholders’ right to invest how they choose is preserved and protected.
“Just because investors often vote the same way that advisors recommend does not mean investors are following their recommendations; instead, it is a reflection of proxy advisors’ policies being closely aligned with those of their investor clients. Proxy advisors’ policies are strongly influenced by clients’ preferences gleaned through surveys, market trends and annual due diligence visits.”
Council of Institutional Investors
“[Proxy advisors] supplement clients' internal capacity, both in terms of expertise and workload. [They] provide a perspective that is independent of company management, directors and dissident shareholders…”
Bricklayers and Trowel Trades International Pension Fund
“Muzzling independent research firms would only reward underperforming CEOs and stifle oversight…on Nov. 5 [2019] the SEC proposed a new rule that would require proxy advisory firms to give a preview of their reports to the very companies that are the subjects of those reports—this before investors can read the advice they purchased. This odd arrangement would allow corporations to interfere with advisers’ research—a recipe for disaster.”
Carl Icahn
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