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Objective and Goals: Establish a new functional unit from the ground up to manage relationships with a key stakeholder group: corporate issuers. 

Key Deliverables: This was a large mandate that delivered a portfolio of projects over several years in two key areas: 1) operational infrastructure (e.g. policies and procedures), and 2) brand awareness (e.g. education initiatives and thought leadership).  

Outcomes: Improved research and data governance; protection of brand integrity and mitigation of reputation and compliance risks. Early projects were foundational for operational/BAU hand-off to a scaled up team and IT investment. Ultimately, this unit opened up opportunities for future business growth and new product development. 

Objective and Goals: Digitalize the verification process of sustainability data directly from global companies.

Key Deliverables: Two online platforms - an external interface for issuers to provide data updates, and an internal tool for analysts to review and accept or reject data updates and corrections, with the workflow integrated with the overall research system.  

Outcomes: This was a large-scale, multi-phase, multi-stakeholder project that resulted in streamlined processes and reduced data update turnaround time. The transition from a manual effort to a digital system improved transparency and the user experience for both companies and research analysts. Within the first year of launch, the platform engaged more than 8,500 active users from almost 5,000 global issuers. 

Objective and Goals: Centralize stewardship activities in a new digital space, and build a framework to ground the engagement program in a common approach across investment teams. 

Key Deliverables: A digital hub of key stewardship documentation, which could be accessed by all relevant team members. In addition, a new consensus-led and cross-team approved Engagement Handbook was developed that outlined the firm's engagement policies, processes, and procedures, including any escalation protocols.

Outcomes: Improved consistency and transparency in the firm's engagement activities which helped satisfy information demands from various stakeholders (e.g. clients, marketing, legal and compliance). Furthermore, a common framework increased credibility and accountability in the firm's stewardship efforts. 

Objective and Goals: Develop first-ever public-facing proxy voting guidelines for a large asset manager.   

Key Deliverables: Published proxy voting guideline document for public access, in accordance with governance best practices and in the firm's unique "voice".

Outcomes: This was a high visibility project that involved executive and C-Suite approvals. The primary outcome was transparency and greater ownership in proxy voting decision-making in order to maintain independence and avoid greenwashing concerns.