Institutional investors and proxy advisory firms continue developing and refining their policies regarding board diversity. While gender diversity on public company boards has been in focus for some time now, institutional investors and proxy advisory firms are also increasingly focusing on racial and ethnic diversity as part of their evolving approach to board diversity.
This post summarizes published board diversity policies of several institutional investors and proxy advisory firms into a singular resource for ease of reference. Below the initial breakdown is a description of specific policies concerning board diversity shareholder proposals.
2022 Board Diversity Policy Summary Chart – Proxy Advisory Firms/Institutional Investors (as of May 2, 2022)
ISS (12/31/2021)
Glass Lewis (11/15/2021) | Approach to Diversity Disclosure Ratings (2/2022))
Council of Institutional Investors (CII) (3/7/2022))
Black Rock (12/2021) | (Board Diversity Engagement Priorities (3/2021))
State Street Global Advisors (3/2021) | (Racial Diversity Guidance (1/2022))
NYS Comptroller (2/16/2022)
NYC Comptroller (2/2019)
Vanguard (3/1/2022) | (Board Diversity Guidance (12/2020))
J.P. Morgan (4/1/2022)
Fidelity (2/2022)
Goldman Sachs Asset Management (3/2022)
California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) (3/2022)
California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) (1/2021) | Corporate Governance Principles (1/2021)
2021 Board Diversity Shareholder Proposal Policies – Proxy Advisory Firms/ Institutional Investors (as of February 21, 2022)