GovernanceMetrics International
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: |
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GMI Ratings Now Available on ProxyEdge
New Governance Resource for Proxy Season
New York, March 9th, 2004 GovernanceMetrics International(GMI), the corporate governance research and ratings agency, today announced that its research and rating services for more than 2,100 global companies are now available on ADP’s web-based proxy voting platform, ProxyEdge Lite. PE Lite customers are able to access GMI through a hyperlink on their Ballot and Vote Screens.
Gavin Anderson, GMI’s President and CEO, said “We are pleased to be included on the PE Lite platform. While designed primarily as a risk analysis tool for institutional investors, GMI Rating Reports and Updates can also help support proxy voting decisions, especially where important governance considerations are at stake. For one thing, GMI offers an objective, independent point of view. And since our ratings are based on hundreds of metrics covering a broad range of issues such as board accountability, financial disclosure, shareholder rights, executive remuneration, the market for control and corporate behavior, GMI provides useful context and background information for proxy voting professionals above and beyond what's presented in the proxy statement.”
Anderson noted that GMI’s Rating Reports for The Walt Disney Company and Comcast Corporation had been reviewed by a number of funds and funds managers as background for the historic vote at the March 3 annual meeting of Disney.
GMI’s rating system incorporates hundreds of data points across six broad categories of analysis: board accountability, financial disclosure and internal controls, executive compensation, shareholder rights, ownership base, takeover provisions, plus corporate behavior and social responsibility. Subscribers to GMI are able to view a company’s overall rating, section ratings and several pages of written analysis. GMI also uses a red flag feature to highlight issues of particular concern, including regulatory investigations and excessive potential dilution from stock option plans. GMI clients include leading pension funds, investment managers, banks, insurance companies and professional service firms in the United States and Europe. See www.gmiratings.com for additional information.
ProxyEdge and PE Lite are part of the suite of services offered by the Investor Communication Services division of Automatic Data Processing (ADP). ADP ICS is a link to the investors of virtually every public company in North America. Clients include more than 800 banks and brokerage firms, as well as over 400 mutual fund families and over 14,000 public corporations. ADP ICS distributes over 95 percent of all beneficial shareholders proxies of over 14,000 North American public companies and tallies proxy votes for virtually all annual and special meetings. At the end of 2003 there were over 1,100 clients using ADP’s Internet based ProxyEdge product. See www.ics.adp.com for additional information.