Opinion | Proxy Advisers and Double Standards

Gary Gensler has brought down the hammer on public companies that have allegedly misled investors. But when proxy advisers have done the same, the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman looks the other way, as a new report by the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) documents.

Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services provide asset managers, pension funds and university endowments with recommendations on how to vote on corporate proxy resolutions. They can assist institutional investors that lack in-house resources to conduct due diligence before voting on thousands of ballot measures. Together they make up about 90% of the proxy advisory market, and it’s a profitable business.