Major proxy firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) issues guidance every year for investors laying out ISS’s recommendations for voting on various shareholder issues. The 2021 US voting guidelines, in line with the 2020 guidelines, recommend voting in favor of appraisal rights. This is of little surprise as appraisal rights remain critical shareholder rights and can provide immense value to shareholders in certain situations.
ISS also issues guidelines for investors focused on specific issues. For example, ISS’s 2021 Climate Proxy Voting Guidelines also endorse appraisal rights, while mostly focused on issues of interest to investors seeking to bring about other forms of corporate change, generally in the “ESG” (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) arena.
Prior ISS ‘specialty’ guidelines include their Catholic Advisory Services Recommendation – which, again, was in favor of appraisal rights.