Proxy Advisors: Their role, Impact and Best Practices

February 9, 2021

Hear from three Proxy advisory services organizations and the role they play in markets, investors, companies and how best to engage with these organizations.

Our Fireside Chat Features:


Amy Freedman

Chief Executive Officer,                                                                             Kingsdale Advisors


Courteney Keatinge

Senior Director of Environmental, Social and Governance,         Glass Lewis


Debra Sisti

Managing Director,
Head of Canadian Research,
ISS 

Glass_Lewis_white
iss2

Please join us for an informative afternoon of dialogue with leaders of 3 renowned Proxy Advisory Firms. We will explore the role and effect that they have on markets, investors and how to deal with the challenging aspects of proxy recommendations and Governance.

We will hear from:

  • Debra Sisti, Managing Director, Head of Canadian Research, ISS
  • Amy Freedman, CEO, Kingsdale Advisors
  • Courteney Keatinge, Senior Director of ESG Research, Glass Lewis

                         

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 from 4:00 to 5:30 pm

 

Opening remarks from Heather Culbert and moderated by Jennifer Koury, followed by Q&A

RSVP Here:      http://thevalueofproxyadvisors.rsvpify.com

 

Post-event Notes

What a great afternoon discussion with our panelists Debra Sisti, amy freedman and Courteney Keatinge ! We cannot thank you enough for joining us! It was very helpful to review the differences between the ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass, Lewis & Co. and also the role of Kingsdale Advisors plays for issuers. We hope that everyone enjoyed the webinar and learned something from this fascinating discussion.

Here Are Some Of Your Comments:

  • What a great event!  Terrific presenters, great moderating, and super questions….Thank you BRW

  • I appreciated how interactive the speakers were with each other and  the moderator. Great job all around!

  • You did a great Job and the two moderators were excellent!

  • Easy to follow. Panel was engaging.

  • Thanks very much, a very useful session with timely information.

  • Really like what you are doing with BRW…keep up the great work!!!

  • You are doing a great job as an organization.  I am very impressed

  • Your events are always very relevant. Thank you for your good work.


Speakers' Bios:

Amy Freedman, CEO of Kingsdale Advisors​

Amy has been the CEO of Kingsdale Advisors since 2017, having joined the company in 2014 as Executive Vice President. A seasoned capital markets professional with over 14 years of experience in investment banking, Amy is responsible for the leadership of Kingsdale Advisors, with a focus on providing superior service and outstanding strategic advice to public company boards and management as they strive to enhance value for shareholders.

Amy began her career at Morgan Stanley in New York as an Associate, Investment Banking where she spent approximately four years executing lead managed equity transactions and client coverage. After being promoted to Vice President, she moved back to Toronto with National Bank Financial. Her most recent position was Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets for Stifel, where she spent eight years with the organization and its predecessors Thomas Weisel Partners as Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer for the Global Investment Bank, and Westwind Partners as a Director in Corporate Finance.

Amy has extensive experience leading transaction management, positioning companies for success in the marketplace across a broad spectrum of industries and a deep understanding of capital markets. Select transaction and special situation experience includes acting for: TransAlta Corp in defence against Mangrove Partners; Detour Gold in defence against Paulson Co.; Front Four & Sandpiper in their action against Granite REIT; PointNorth in their action against Liquor Stores; Sprott Asset Management in its $1 billion hostile bid for Central GoldTrust; Pacific Rubiales in a transaction contested by shareholder O’Hara Administration; TransCanada Corporation in defense against Sandell Asset Management; Oxford Park in its campaign at Extendicare; Wesdome Gold in its defense against Resolute Funds; Sherritt Corporation in defense against Clarke Inc.; K2 against Dominion Diamond; Graeme Roustan against Performance Sports; and Orange Capital against Innvest REIT. 

Courteney Keatinge, Senior Director of ESG, Glass Lewis

Courteney Keatinge oversees Glass Lewis’ research and vote recommendations for shareholder proposals and covers research on major environmental and social issues in all major markets. Courteney plays a lead role in Glass Lewis’ partnerships with ESG data providers and specializes in issuer and stakeholder engagement, corporate governance and ESG analysis. She is also an active participant in Glass Lewis’ policy and product development.

She has written reports for Glass Lewis including Greening the Green: Linking Executive Compensation to Sustainability and Mind the Gap: Board Gender Diversity. She has also contributed to a variety of papers with organizations including the UN PRI and Ceres on issues related to ESG and corporate governance. Before joining Glass Lewis, Courteney worked on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility issues at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association. She has also filled roles including social media manager and scribe and as a featured author in the Yearbook for the International Corporate Governance Network.

Courteney holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in business administration, with a concentration in corporate social responsibility from Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver.

Debra Sisti, Managing Director, Head of Canadian Research, ISS

Debra Sisti is the Head of Canadian Governance Research at ISS. Deb is responsible for managing policy development and benchmark Proxy Advisory Service research for approximately 2600 annual and special shareholder meetings at Canadian publicly listed companies.

Debra was a co-founder, director and officer of the predecessor Canadian corporate governance firm Allenvest Group Limited. During the course of her 30+ years with the company as it transitioned from Allenvest to Fairvest Securities to ISS, she has held many responsibilities from those as a licensed institutional trader and director of a registered investment firm, to management of client accounts, and the introduction and oversight of several corporate governance services including proxy voting for Canadian institutions and coverage of E&S shareholder proposals. Debra is also ISS’ delegate as Associate member of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance.

Debra contributes to Canadian corporate governance thought leadership as a speaker on industry panels and as a former member of the OSC Continuous Disclosure Advisory Committee and a former director of the Responsible Investment Association.  She has also authored corporate governance articles and regulatory submissions related to corporate governance and disclosure update proposals.