Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a leading provider of corporate governance and proxy voting solutions to the global financial community, today announced the appointment of Georgina Marshall as Head of Global Research effective September 1.
She replaces Martha Carter, who will move into a new role leading global education initiatives at ISS.
Marshall will lead ISS’ global research teams, providing institutional investors with research, information and vote recommendations on more than 38,000 companies in over 115 markets to aid investors in making informed voting decisions and assist in portfolio stewardship. Marshall will also serve as Head of ISS’ Global Policy Board, which is responsible for developing ISS global benchmark proxy voting policies. She is also a key member of ISS’ newly launched Governance 365 initiative, a multi-year program focused on providing ISS clients with an expanded, technologically advanced suite of research and data solutions.
Currently based in London, Marshall will report to Gary Retelny, President and Chief Executive Officer of ISS. She will divide her time between ISS’ Rockville, Md., and London offices in advance of relocating to the U.S.in 2016.
“We are extremely pleased to have Georgina take on this role,” said Retelny. “She brings highly valuable global insight into the governance practices and requirements of our investor clients, given her strong background as a professional within the investment management industry and her recent experience leading ISS’ EMEA research team, ESG efforts and our firm-wide engagement activities. Her perspective will augment our core focus of meeting the needs of our clients with global holdings.”
Marshall has been with ISS since 2012, most recently serving as Deputy Director of Global Research and Head of ISS Research for EMEA covering the U.K., Continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to this role she was Regional Head of Corporate Governance at Aviva Investors, a global asset manager with a strong track record of leading responsible investment and corporate governance practices. Marshall also held financial, IT and supplier management roles at Aviva Investors. Earlier in her career, she worked in finance and technology management positions in the financial services industry. She is a Chartered Accountant (ICAEW), and a member of ICAEW Faculty of Finance and Management. Marshall was educated in the U.K. and graduated with honors from the University of Exeter.
“I look forward to leading the global ISS research teams in providing high quality research, reporting, and thought-leadership to assist our clients in making informed voting- and investment-decisions,” said Marshall. “Governance is increasingly becoming a year round focus for investors globally, and ISS research and data is constantly evolving to meet our clients’ needs. Our goal is to develop new and highly flexible ways in which to deliver comprehensive and useful data and analytics throughout the year to assist our clients with their core stewardship, investing and voting activities.”