The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:46:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.9 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png Staying Alive: ISS Continues Its Influence on 2026 Voting Outcomes – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 Staying Alive: ISS Continues Its Influence on 2026 Voting Outcomes https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/08/10/staying-alive-iss-continues-its-influence-on-2026-voting-outcomes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=staying-alive-iss-continues-its-influence-on-2026-voting-outcomes https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/08/10/staying-alive-iss-continues-its-influence-on-2026-voting-outcomes/#respond Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:30:31 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=182935?d=20260807161856EDT Posted by Martha Carter and Sydney Carlock, Teneo, on Monday, August 10, 2026
Editor's Note:

Martha Carter is the Vice Chairman and Head of Governance and Sustainability and Sydney Carlock is a Managing Director at Teneo. This post is based on a Teneo memorandum by Ms. Carter, Ms. Carlock, Matt Filosa, Sean Quinn, and Diana Lee, all at Teneo.

Despite regulatory pressures and competition from AI-enabled proxy voting systems, adverse recommendations from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) continued to influence vote outcomes during the 2026 proxy season.

When ISS recommended against management, investor opposition often matched or exceeded prior levels, especially in categories where ISS issued fewer adverse recommendations overall. Therefore, companies still need to pay close attention to ISS policies and potential recommendations as they prepare for Fall investor engagement and the 2027 proxy season.

ISS has faced no shortage of challenges in recent months: President Trump’s December Executive Order targeting core elements of its business model, lawsuits from multiple state attorneys general and the adoption of AI-enabled proxy voting tools by J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo. These developments raised the question of whether ISS’ long-standing influence over vote results was beginning to fade.

(more…)

]]> https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/08/10/staying-alive-iss-continues-its-influence-on-2026-voting-outcomes/feed/ 0