ISS GPD and Strate collaborate to streamline proxy voting experience

Strate and Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a leading provider of corporate governance and sustainable investment solutions to financial market participants, have collaborated to streamline the proxy voting life cycle in South Africa.

The integration of services between the two organisations allows global and local custodian banks using ISS GPD outsource voting solutions to leverage Strate’s central platform for direct vote processing for shareholder meetings of South African issuers. 

“We are delighted to announce our collaboration with State which enhances our GPD outsourced voting solution for custodians with global and local investor clients seeking to exercise effective stewardship in South Africa,” said Rudi Kuntz, Head of Global Proxy Distribution at ISS.

“The new partnership removes a step in the intermediary chain for vote processing in the local market, which provides improved voting deadlines. This benefits custodians’ investor clients by allowing more time for engagement and vote decision-making, ahead of company meetings in South Africa,” added Kuntz.

The partnership enhances voting efficiency, corporate governance and transparency for investors.

“Collaboration is key for Strate as we integrate with ISS GPD to create further efficiencies for electronic proxy voting within the South African market. This milestone will afford ISS GPD clients with direct market access to vote and to connect with local issuers, thereby enhancing investor stewardship,” says Gregory Naicker, Strate’s Head of CSD Services.”

Founded in 1985, ISS empowers investors and companies to build for long-term and sustainable growth by providing high-quality data, analytics, and insight. ISS is the world’s leading provider of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions, market intelligence and fund services, and events and editorial content for institutional investors and corporations, globally.