What Institutional Shareholder Services does

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), founded in 1985 and headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, is a leading proxy advisory and corporate governance data firm serving institutional investors, asset managers, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds globally. The company is registered as an Investment Adviser with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Börse AG within the ISS STOXX group, alongside STOXX and DAX index businesses. ISS is the dominant player in the U.S. proxy advisory market, controlling over 90% of the market alongside Glass Lewis, and has voted 4.6 trillion shares to date across approximately 45,000 companies analyzed annually.

ISS operates five core divisions organized around its stewardship and sustainability franchise: (1) Stewardship Solutions covering end-to-end proxy voting, the ProxyExchange platform, Voting Policy Gateway, Global Proxy Distribution, and Engagement Services; (2) Sustainability Solutions including Sustainability Ratings, Climate & Nature Ratings, Impact Ratings, and Screening & Controversies; (3) Research & Advisory delivering Governance & Financial Scores, Custom Ratings, Climate & Nature Analytics, and Securities Class Action Services; (4) Data & Analytics providing raw data, regulatory data, and the DataDesk distribution platform; and (5) Market Engagement via ISS Market Intelligence (MarketPulse, Market Pro, FundServices/FWW, LiquidMetrix, Media Solutions). The proprietary platform supports 480 custom voting policies, 16,000 sustainability data points, and 790 research professionals globally, with the underlying data feeding into 2.8 million structured products in market.

ISS generates revenue exclusively through B2B enterprise subscriptions sold via annual, quote-based agreements to institutional clients; retail is not served. Revenue streams include Proxy Voting and Governance Services, Sustainability Data and Analytics, and Research and Advisory Services — all structured as recurring subscriptions. Distribution is direct via enterprise sales teams and online platforms (ProxyExchange, DataDesk), supported by thought leadership content, industry conferences, and webinars. The company maintains global office presence in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Dubai, and Beijing. In 2025-2026, ISS faces material regulatory headwinds including a Trump administration executive order directing federal oversight of proxy advisors, an FTC antitrust investigation, and consumer protection lawsuits from multiple state attorneys general over alleged ESG-driven conduct.

Name

Institutional Shareholder Services

Legal name

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.

Website

https://issgovernance.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) provides proxy voting, governance research, and sustainability/ESG data services to institutional investors, asset managers, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds, operating as a Deutsche Börse AG subsidiary within the ISS STOXX group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Proxy Advisory and Governance Data Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Proxy Voting & Shareholder Meetings (AGM/EGM) (FSACAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Proxy Voting & Governance Services (FSAAAOAJ), Proxy Voting & Shareholder Meeting Services (FSAFALAD)

Keywords

• Proxy advisory services
• Governance research data
• Sustainability ratings analytics
• ESG climate analytics
• Corporate governance solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Rockville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Proxy Voting and Governance Services: Subscription-based services for institutional investors providing proxy voting recommendations, governance research, and voting execution solutions. Services include End-to-End Voting, Global Proxy Distribution, and Investor Workflow Solutions.
2. Sustainability Data and Analytics: Sustainability solutions delivering ESG data, ratings, climate analytics, and portfolio monitoring for responsible investing across asset classes.
3. Research and Advisory Services: Global research delivering ratings, rankings, screening, climate data, and controversies information through proprietary insights for investment decision-making.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) provides proxy voting recommendations, governance research, and sustainability data analytics to institutional investors, asset managers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and publicly traded companies. Its offerings include end-to-end proxy voting execution, custom voting policy frameworks, ESG and climate analytics, governance and financial scoring, STOXX/DAX indices, corporate governance advisory (via ISS-Corporate), market intelligence (via ISS Market Intelligence), and securities class action claim services, delivered through proprietary platforms and subscription-based data products.

Product overview

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) operates as a comprehensive governance, sustainability, and investment intelligence platform organized under ISS STOXX GmbH. The company offers a multi-product portfolio organized into five core divisions: (1) Stewardship Solutions (provided by ISS Inc., an SEC-registered Investment Adviser) covering proxy voting (ProxyExchange, Voting Policy Gateway, Global Proxy Distribution, Portfolio Reporting, Engagement Services), (2) Sustainability Solutions including Sustainability Ratings, Climate & Nature Ratings, Impact Ratings, Screening & Controversies, and Raw Data, (3) Research & Advisory offering Governance & Financial Scores, Custom Ratings, Climate & Nature Analytics, and Securities Class Action Services, (4) Data & Analytics providing Climate & Nature Analytics, Regulatory Data, and DataDesk platform access, and (5) Market Engagement via ISS Market Intelligence with products like MarketPulse, Market Pro, Media Solutions, Market Sage, FundServices (FWW), and LiquidMetrix. Additionally, the ISS STOXX group provides STOXX and DAX indices for ETFs, structured products, and derivatives through STOXX Ltd. (governed by EU Benchmark Regulation). ISS-Corporate provides corporate governance solutions while ISS Market Intelligence provides non-advisory market data and analytics services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ISS-Corporate: Corporate services including governance and compliance solutions
• ISS Market Intelligence
• ProxyExchange
• DataDesk

Products and services

• ProxyExchange An end-to-end proxy voting and ballot management platform that enables institutional investors to execute and manage proxy voting activities across global portfolios.
• DataDesk A data access and analytics platform providing login-based access to ISS governance and sustainability data for institutional clients.
• STOXX and DAX Indices Index solutions including EURO STOXX 50, STOXX Europe 600 and DAX indices used in ETFs, structured products, and derivatives, offered by STOXX Ltd. within the ISS STOXX group.
• ISS-Corporate Solutions Corporate governance solutions and advisory services provided by ISS Corporate Solutions, Inc. to publicly traded companies, including governance data, board evaluations, M&A advisory, and shareholder engagement insights. Not considered investment advisory under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
• ISS Market Intelligence Market intelligence division providing data, analytics, research, media, and market engagement solutions to financial services clients, with sub-products including MarketPulse, Market Pro, FundServices (FWW), and LiquidMetrix.
• Securities Class Action Services Service tracking and filing claims for securities class action lawsuits on behalf of institutional investors, operated through Securities Class Action Services, LLC.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4.6 trillion shares voted through platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Sustainalytics: A Morningstar-owned ESG and corporate governance research firm providing risk ratings and analytical products to asset managers. Competes head-to-head with ISS's Sustainability Ratings and Screening & Controversies offerings for institutional ESG mandates.
• Egan-Jones Proxy Services: A smaller, independent proxy advisory firm offering voting recommendations and governance research. While not a direct head-to-head at ISS's scale, it represents the long-tail of competition for institutional proxy advisory mandates.

Broad incumbents

• MSCI: Provides ESG ratings, climate data, and governance analytics to institutional investors through MSCI ESG Research. Overlaps with ISS's Sustainability, Climate & Nature ratings and ESG data products across the same institutional buyer base.
• FactSet: Provides portfolio analytics, ESG data, and corporate governance information to institutional investors. Overlaps with ISS Market Intelligence products (MarketPulse, Market Pro) and increasingly with ESG/governance data offerings.
• Bloomberg: Provides ESG data, governance information, and analytics through the Bloomberg Terminal to institutional investors. Competes with ISS DataDesk and serves overlapping institutional buy-side and corporate clients.
• S&P Global Sustainable1: The ESG and sustainability arm of S&P Global, providing corporate sustainability assessments, climate analytics, and ESG data. Competes with ISS across ESG ratings, climate analytics, and raw sustainability data products.
• Moody's: Through Moody's Analytics and Moody's ESG Solutions, provides credit ratings, ESG assessments, and climate risk analytics. Competes with ISS in the governance and climate analytics space for institutional investor clients.
• Morningstar: Provides investment research, ESG ratings (through Sustainalytics), and fund analytics to institutional and retail investors. Competes with ISS across ESG ratings, research, and investment intelligence products.
• Broadridge Financial Solutions: Provides the underlying proxy distribution and voting infrastructure that ISS and asset managers (e.g., Wells Fargo) use. Broadridge competes in adjacent parts of the proxy workflow and offers investor communication solutions, making it a structural peer for stewardship infrastructure.

Direct peers

• Glass Lewis & Co. The other dominant proxy advisory firm, jointly controlling ~90% of the US proxy advisory market alongside ISS. Glass Lewis provides directly competing proxy voting research, recommendations, and governance services to institutional investors, making it the closest one-to-one comparable.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iss-institutional-shareholder-services
• Xx.com/issgovernance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Institutional Shareholder Services