Coalition of Asset Management Firms Launches Governance Framework for Institutional Investors and Boardrooms

The Investor Stewardship Group, comprising some of the largest U.S.-based institutional investors and global asset managers, recently launched a framework for U.S. Stewardship and Governance to establish basic standards of investment stewardship and corporate governance for U.S. institutional investor and boardroom conduct. The Investor Stewardship Group represents approximately $17 trillion in assets under management, and its members include: BlackRock, CalSTRS, Florida State Board of Administration (SBA), MFS Investment Management, State Street Global Advisors, TIAA Investments, T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Vanguard, and Wellington Management. The group’s initial standards focus on corporate governance principles for listed companies and investment stewardship principles for institutional investors. The group is calling on institutional investors and asset management firms investing in the U.S. to sign the framework at www.isgframework.org. The framework goes into effect January 1, 2018 to give U.S. companies time to adjust to its standards in advance of the 2018 proxy season. The framework’s principles are presented in detail at www.isgframework.org and include six Stewardship Principles for Institutional Investors and six Corporate Governance Principles for U.S. Listed Companies. At a recent symposium on corporate governance, State Street Global Advisors issued new gender diversity guidance applicable to the more than 3,500 companies it invests in across three major regions (US, UK and Australia), designed to increase the number of women on corporate boards.