Top FTSE 100 Institutional Investors Alignment with ISS & Glass Lewis
Oliver Taylor
Summary:
Top FTSE 100 Institutional Investors Proxy Alignment
Congruence & Divergence with ISS & Glass Lewis
Voting Congruence & Divergence with ISS & Glass Lewis
To better understand the congruences & divergences between voting recommendations from proxy advisors and observed investor voting behaviour, we analysed four categories for each of the both proxy advisors:
- ISS recommended FOR, Investor voted FOR
- ISS recommended FOR, Investor voted AGAINST
- ISS recommended AGAINST, Investor voted AGAINST
- ISS recommended AGAINST, Investor voted FOR
- Glass Lewis recommended FOR, Investor voted FOR
- Glass Lewis recommended FOR, Investor voted AGAINST
- Glass Lewis recommended AGAINST, Investor voted AGAINST
- Glass Lewis recommended AGAINST, Investor voted FOR
| Investor | Voted Items | Proxy Advisory | ISS + Voting + | ISS + Voting - | ISS - Voting - | ISS - Voting + | GL + Voting + | GL + Voting - | GL - Voting - | GL - Voting + |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amundi | 1798 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 91.7% | 8.3% | 44% | 56% | 91.4% | 8.6% | 33.3% | 66.6% |
| Black Rock | 1827 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.2% | 0.8% | 36% | 64% | 99.1% | 0.9% | 38.9% | 61.1% |
| Capital Group | 917 | ISS | 97.2% | 2.8% | 20% | 60% | 97.1% | 2.9% | 20% | 80% |
| Columbia Threadneedle | 1852 | ISS | 99.9% | 0.1% | 23.8% | 76.2% | 99.8% | 0.2% | 17.7% | 82.3% |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors | 1792 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.3% | 0.7% | 96% | 4% | 98.7% | 1.3% | 72.2% | 27.8% |
| Fidelity FMR | 1430 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.1% | 0.9% | 22.7% | 77.3% | 99.2% | 0.8% | 37.5% | 62.5% |
| Geode Capital | 1562 | ISS | 99.9% | 0.1% | 24% | 76% | 99.8% | 0.2% | 16.7% | 83.3% |
| Invesco Asset Management | 1833 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.8% | 0.2% | 19.1% | 80.9% | 99.7% | 0.3% | 18.8% | 81.2% |
| JP Morgan Asset Management | 1852 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.9% | 0.1% | 24% | 76% | 99.8% | 0.2% | 16.7% | 83.3% |
| MFS Investment Management | 1215 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.4% | 0.6% | 50% | 50% | 99% | 1% | 50% | 50% |
| Norges Bank | 1682 | ISS | 99.8% | 0.2% | 25% | 75% | 99.6% | 0.4% | 16.7% | 83.3% |
| Northern Trust | 1588 | ISS | 99.1% | 0.9% | 88.9% | 11.1% | 98.5% | 1.5% | 53.3% | 46.7% |
| State Street Investment | 1852 | ISS | 95.6% | 4.4% | 52% | 48% | 95.4% | 4.6% | 44.4% | 55.6% |
| T. Rowe Price | 1483 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.7% | 0.3% | 73.7% | 26.3% | 99.1% | 0.9% | 40% | 60% |
| Vanguard | 1852 | ISS & Glass Lewis | 99.8% | 0.2% | 24% | 76% | 99.8% | 0.2% | 27.8% | 72.2% |
“+” indicates a positive recommendation or vote (FOR).
“-” indicates a negative recommendation or vote (AGAINST).
Interpreting Congruence & Possible Reasons for Voting Alignment
Interpreting Congruence: Why High Alignment Is Not Proof of Causation
- In a paper by Robert Matthews in 2000 titled“Storks Deliver Babies (p=0.008)”, the Stork-Baby Correlation was examined.
- The examined data showed that a highly statistically significant correlation exists between stork populations & human birth rates across Europe.
- As the author notes, this “shows that a highly statistically significant correlation exists between stork populations and human birth rates across Europe. While storks may not deliver babies, unthinking interpretation of correlation and p-values can certainly deliver unreliable conclusions.”
Possible Reasons for Voting Alignment with Proxy Advisory
Shared Best Practices: Both investors and proxy advisors frequently operate from the same global governance ‘playbooks.’ Frameworks established by organizations such as the ICGN, UN PRI, and the OECD, alongside national Corporate Governance Codes (such as the DCGK in Germany), create a standardized baseline for high-quality governance. Consequently, high alignment might reflect a shared adherence.
Routine Consensus: A certain portion of AGM agendas consist of “routine” or non-controversial items, such as dividend payments or the appointment of auditors. In these cases, there is a natural market-wide overlap in voting, which mathematically inflates alignment percentages.
Feedback Loops: ISS and Glass Lewis conduct comprehensive annual policy surveys and regular client consultations to ensure their benchmarks remain aligned. By incorporating this direct input into the guidelines, proxy advisors adopt a form of consensus views.
Non-Glass Lewis Clients: The high level of alignment observed among ISS-exclusive clients with Glass Lewis recommendations might indicate that proxy advisors are not necessarily standard-setters, but act as mirrors of an existing basic market consensus.
Methodology
- Our study examines 15 of the largest international institutional investors, selected based on average investment size and strategic shareholder structures.
- For the 2025 FTSE 100 Annual General Meeting (AGM) season, we analysed voting recommendations from leading proxy advisors ISS and Glass Lewis.
- To ensure a consistent baseline for voting guidelines and investor expectations, we excluded companies without full proxy coverage -typically due to insufficient free floats.
- Consequently, this report focuses on 85 FTSE 100 companies, cross-referencing their proxy recommendations against the actual voting records of our 15 selected investors.
Alliance Advisors Team
At Alliance Advisors, we support our EMEA-clients on each assignment with a dedicated global team that consists of:
