ISS-Corporate
ISS-Corporate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), provides ESG ratings, governance analytics, executive compensation advisory, sustainable finance, and cyber risk solutions to large corporations and advisory firms globally across 14 countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersRockville, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What ISS-Corporate does
ISS-Corporate (legal name: ISS Corporate Solutions, Inc.) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) and operates as a global provider of corporate governance, executive compensation, corporate sustainability, sustainable finance, and cyber risk data, analytics, and advisory solutions. Headquartered in Rockville, Maryland with 229 employees distributed across 17 offices in 14 countries, the firm serves two primary customer segments: large corporations and advisory firms that require data-driven ratings, peer benchmarking, and regulatory-aligned reporting tools. Its core product suite includes the Corporate Rating (a twelve-point A+ to D- grade across approximately 100 indicators per industry), the Governance QualityScore (1–10 risk scale across Board Structure, Compensation, Shareholder Rights, and Audit & Risk Oversight), the Cyber Risk Score (300–850 forward-looking likelihood of a material cyber incident within 12 months), and the SDG Impact Rating (–10 to +10 across the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and 100+ data factors).
The underlying technology is a data-driven analytics platform built on a proprietary corporate data repository that aggregates market trends, regulatory frameworks, and peer comparisons. All products are delivered through the Compass client portal, which also supports data verification (allowing issuers to review and validate over 400 governance and compensation datapoints) and provides access to ratings, scores, and an ESG Gateway. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales with personalized demos for large clients and a self-serve portal for existing customers.
The business model is mixed: subscription-based enterprise software and data access generates recurring revenue, complemented by professional services including Second Party Opinions for Green, Social, and Sustainability-linked finance frameworks and paid data verification offerings. Pricing is opaque and quote-based, with free access granted to companies within the ISS-Corporate coverage universe for verification purposes. The firm is approved as an external reviewer under the EU Green Bond Regulation, and it launched an ISSB-aligned sustainability reporting solution in 2026 covering IFRS S1 and S2, with parallel go-to-market activity across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.
ISS-Corporate firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ISS-Corporate
- Legal name
- ISS Corporate Solutions, Inc.
- Website
- https://iss-corporate.com
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- ISS-Corporate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), provides ESG ratings, governance analytics, executive compensation advisory, sustainable finance, and cyber risk solutions to large corporations and advisory firms globally across 14 countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ISS-Corporate industry classification
Industry- Product category
- ESG and Corporate Governance Analytics Software
- NAICS
- Management Consulting Services (54161), Software Publishers (513210), Credit Bureaus (561450)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory (BPAHAFAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Capital Markets Advisory (IPO Readiness, SPAC, ECM/DCM Advisory) (BPAHAOAL), Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)
Keywords
Where ISS-Corporate is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rockville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices17 records
Markets served
ISS-Corporate business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Subscription-based Software and Data Solutions: Enterprise software subscriptions providing access to governance, compensation, sustainability, and cyber risk analytics platforms. Clients access ratings, scores, and data through the Compass platform.
- Data Verification Services: Corporate issuer data verification services allowing companies to review, verify, and provide feedback on data used to determine their scores. Available free of charge to all companies within coverage universe.
- Second Party Opinions: Independent reviews of Green, Social, and Sustainability-linked finance frameworks providing external verification for bond issuers.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
ISS-Corporate product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ISS-Corporate is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) that provides data-driven corporate governance, executive compensation, sustainability, sustainable finance, and cyber risk solutions to large corporations and advisory firms. Its core offerings include proprietary ESG ratings and scores (Corporate Rating, Governance QualityScore, E&S QualityScore, SDG Impact Rating, Fund Rating, Cyber Risk Score) delivered through the Compass client portal, alongside advisory services for governance, compensation, sustainability, sustainable finance verification, and data verification.
Product overview
ISS-Corporate operates as an ESG data, ratings, and advisory services firm offering a portfolio of ratings products and consulting services. The core rating products include Corporate Rating (A+ to D- grading), Governance QualityScore (1-10 risk scoring), E&S QualityScore, SDG Impact Rating (-10 to +10), Fund Rating, and Cyber Risk Score (300-850 scale). These are accessed through the Compass client portal. The advisory service offerings span Corporate Governance, Executive Compensation, Corporate Sustainability, Sustainable Finance, and Cyber Risk solutions. Supporting services include Data Verification, Second Party Opinion for green bonds, and the ESG Gateway platform. ISS-Corporate also provides content resources including the ESG Unlocked Podcast and publishes research through blog posts and reports.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Compass (Client Portal)
Quantifiable outcome
- Independent external review as EU Green Bond Standard approved reviewer, leading 9 of 25 published factsheets
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use ISS-Corporate
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
ISS-Corporate technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
ISS-Corporate partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS)coreISS-Corporate is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS). ISS is the parent company providing corporate governance and shareholder engagement services globally.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
ISS-Corporate competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Workiva: Workiva provides a SaaS platform for ESG, sustainability, and governance reporting used by large enterprises for SEC and CSRD disclosures. While not a pure ratings provider, it competes for the same corporate sustainability budget and overlaps with ISS-Corporate's reporting-solution use cases.
Broad incumbents
- MSCI ESG Research: MSCI's ESG Research arm provides corporate ESG ratings, screening, and analytics to institutional investors and corporates. It is the largest ESG data incumbent and competes with ISS-Corporate's Corporate Rating, QualityScore, and SDG Impact Rating products across governance and sustainability analytics.
- Sustainalytics (Morningstar): Sustainalytics, owned by Morningstar, offers ESG risk ratings, second-party opinions, and governance research used by asset managers and corporates. It directly overlaps with ISS-Corporate's governance and sustainable-finance solutions and competes for the same enterprise and advisory-firm buyers.
- Moody's ESG Solutions: Moody's ESG Solutions (formerly Moody's Analytics ESG) provides ESG scores, climate data, and sustainability assessments tied to its credit ratings franchise. It overlaps with ISS-Corporate's Corporate Rating, E&S QualityScore, and sustainable-finance second-party opinion offerings for corporate and issuer clients.
- S&P Global ESG Scores: S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment (formerly SAM ESG Ratings) provides company-level ESG scores used in the S&P ESG Indices. Its broad data distribution and overlap with S&P 500 institutional flows make it a direct competitive incumbent to ISS-Corporate's Corporate Rating and QualityScore products.
- Bloomberg ESG: Bloomberg's ESG data product provides company-level ESG indicators and scores embedded in the Bloomberg Terminal, giving it unmatched distribution to institutional investors. It competes for the same analytical budget that corporates and advisory firms allocate to ISS-Corporate's governance and sustainability ratings.
Direct peers
- CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project): CDP runs a global environmental disclosure system used by thousands of corporates to report climate, water, and forest impact. Its disclosure ratings and scoring methodology overlap with ISS-Corporate's SDG Impact Rating and Corporate Sustainability Solutions, particularly for sustainability-reporting buyers.
- EcoVadis: EcoVadis provides corporate sustainability ratings and scorecards focused on supply chains and procurement. Its outside-in sustainability assessments directly overlap with ISS-Corporate's Corporate Sustainability and Corporate Rating products for large multinational corporates.
Others
- Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS): ISS (the parent) is the dominant proxy advisory firm providing governance research and voting recommendations to institutional investors. While ISS-Corporate is a wholly-owned subsidiary, the parent operates in an adjacent space and shares data infrastructure, brand, and corporate-governance IP with ISS-Corporate.
Regional players
- Glass Lewis: Glass Lewis is ISS's main competitor in the proxy advisory and governance research market. While its primary focus is investor-side governance, its Corporate Solutions group offers services that overlap with ISS-Corporate's Corporate Governance Solutions for issuers preparing for proxy season.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
ISS-Corporate social profiles
Digital presenceISS-Corporate financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ISS-Corporate leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
ISS-Corporate funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ISS-Corporate M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about ISS-Corporate
What does ISS-Corporate do?
ISS-Corporate is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS) that provides data-driven corporate governance, executive compensation, sustainability, sustainable finance, and cyber risk solutions to large corporations and advisory firms. Its core offerings include proprietary ESG ratings and scores (Corporate Rating, Governance QualityScore, E&S QualityScore, SDG Impact Rating, Fund Rating, Cyber Risk Score) delivered through the Compass client portal, alongside advisory services for governance, compensation, sustainability, sustainable finance verification, and data verification.
Is ISS-Corporate a public or private company?
ISS-Corporate is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was ISS-Corporate founded?
ISS-Corporate was founded in -1. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is ISS-Corporate based?
ISS-Corporate is headquartered in Rockville, United States, in the North America region.
How does ISS-Corporate make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription-based Software and Data Solutions are the primary driver. The others are data Verification Services and second Party Opinions.
Who are ISS-Corporate's main competitors?
Workiva is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are MSCI ESG Research, Sustainalytics (Morningstar), Moody's ESG Solutions, S&P Global ESG Scores and Bloomberg ESG. Direct peers are CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) and EcoVadis. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is listed as an others. Glass Lewis is listed as a regional player.
Does ISS-Corporate have an API?
No public API is recorded for ISS-Corporate.
What industry is ISS-Corporate in?
ISS-Corporate's product category is ESG and Corporate Governance Analytics Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAFAC, Governance & Board Effectiveness Advisory, with a secondary code of BPAHAOAL, Capital Markets Advisory (IPO Readiness, SPAC, ECM/DCM Advisory). Its NAICS code is 54161 and its SIC code is 6199.