I’ve been having a lot of conversations recently about how the stewardship landscape is undergoing major shifts, and it seems like shareholder engagement and vote solicitation are going to look very different a few years from now than they looked a few years ago. We’ve covered many of these developments in greater detail here and on The Proxy Season blog, but this ICR blog brings it all together. Here are excerpts on each topic with links to our prior blogs:

The Post-Benchmark Era: According to Reuters reporting, Glass Lewis’ will sunset its “benchmark” or “house-view” voting recommendations by 2027, establishing a clear turning point. Instead of a default recommendation, beginning that year, clients will choose from customizable “perspectives” aligned with their governance philosophies—such as “management-aligned,” “governance fundamentals,” “active owner,” and “sustainability.”

ISS STOXX and the Modular Research Model: ISS STOXX is evolving from a vote recommendation engine to a data and research infrastructure provider. Its new offerings, Gov360 and Custom Lens, support proprietary stewardship programs for institutional investors.

Broadridge: Infrastructure Becomes Policy: Broadridge is expanding beyond proxy voting infrastructure into the policy layer . . . Its institutional platform will now support customizable rule engines, pass-through voting logic, and integrated services across reconciliation, reporting, and disclosure.

But that’s not all! Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street are splitting their proxy voting teams into two separate groups. Voting choice programs have come a long way in a short time. Then there’s the change in the nature of engagement meetings, given the 2025 Schedule 13G eligibility guidance.

The blog says the “combined effect of these developments is eroding the shared ‘benchmark anchor’” and:

– Greater diversity in stewardship frameworks, shaped by regional norms and client mandates.

– Increased operational complexity, as investors reconcile custom logic across platforms.

– New emphasis on stewardship design, based on the sophistication of stewardship design rather than vote recommendation simplicity.

For public companies, that means, “investor communications will need to resonate across multiple customized frameworks, and companies will need strong proxy advice that enables them to translate conviction into customized, data-backed governance decisions.”

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– Meredith Ervine