Further to yesterday's post: Glass Lewis Plans to Eliminate Benchmark Policy in Favor of Varying Focused Perspectives, Glass Lewis elaborated on the changes it plans to make in its voting policies and associated voting recommendations:
Over the next two years, Glass Lewis plans to make two significant changes to the way it applies proxy voting policies and delivers its highly-regarded proxy research and voting recommendations.
First, Glass Lewis will help all clients move beyond standard policies, guiding them in creating voting frameworks that reflect their individual investment philosophies and stewardship priorities. A majority of the firm’s clients already use their own custom policy guidelines or a specific thematic policy. The goal is to enable all clients to vote according to their own policies.
Second, Glass Lewis will move away from singularly-focused research and vote recommendations based on its house policy and shift to providing multiple perspectives that reflect the varied viewpoints of clients. While still under development, the spectrum of perspectives could range from one that leans toward management and others that reflect more governance fundamentals. Beginning in 2027, clients will be able to access any or all of these perspectives to inform their proxy voting decisions.
It isn't yet clear how these changes will impact the annual policy development process and how each of the various perspectives will be informed. For the past two years (since the initial launch), the Society has participated in responding to Glass Lewis's annual benchmark policy surveys aimed at informing its benchmark policies.
Stay tuned for more information.