The latest annual survey done by ISS, one of two top corporate governance advisers, takes aim at ‘male, stale and frail’ boards. In a new set of targets, they ask companies how long their board of directors have held their positions and when they have brought on new directors. These targets and survey are means to inform and form a basis for new investor voting guidelines.
ISS is seeking to bring new directors to U.S. boards which, on average, have the oldest and longest standing directors in the world. In doing so they hope to increase diversity and bring in fresh perspectives. Since the U.S. does not have any formal governance for boards, voting guidelines, like those established by ISS or Glass Lewis, are considered the closest thing to a best practice standard, and hold considerable sway.