ISS Recommendations and Mutual Fund Voting on Proxy Proposals

Abstract

This article analyzes mutual fund voting data from 2003-2008, the first five proxy seasons for which this data is available, and seeks to identify the extent to which mutual funds vote consistently with the voting recommendations of RiskMetrics' ISS Corporate Governance Services (ISS). We compare voting by mutual funds to voting by all shareholders during this time period and then focus on mutual fund voting on non-election and non-routine proxy proposals-both those submitted by management and by shareholders.