The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) is teaming up with US-based Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) for a joint venture that will provide UK investors with Web-based access to corporate governance analysis and electronic proxy voting capabilities.
The new UK company - Research, Recommendations and Electronic Voting (RREV) - will be jointly owned by NAPF and ISS. Services will be launched in London in January 2004.
Aimed at institutional investors and fund managers already subscribing to the NAPF's Voting Issues Service and UK clients of ISS, the new services will include corporate governance analysis and recommendations, based on NAPF policy and extended to all FTSE All-Share companies. In addition, users will have access to analyses and voting recommendations on some 22,000 companies in about 80 countries, as well as corporate governance policy and research services.
NAPF says for the first time, UK investors will have access to analysis and recommendations on thousands of companies worlwide through the same portal and will be able to vote electronically.
James Heard, chief executive, ISS, adds: "Today, more than ever, it is critical that investors actively manage portfolio holdings and influence better corporate behaviour through informed proxy voting. RREV will provide the tools to do just that."