Council of Institutional Investors is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

association of U.S.

pension funds A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income. Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...

and other employee benefit funds,

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

and endowments that "promotes the interests of

institutional investors An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked co ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

".financial-dictionary
/ref> It describes its mission as to "educate its members, policymakers and the public about corporate governance, shareholder rights and related investment issues, and to advocate on members' behalf." The CII was founded in 1985 by 21 public pension fund officials and has grown to include over 140 institutional investors (public, union and corporate employee benefit plans and foundations and endowments) whose combined assets exceed $4 trillion. It maintains its headquarters in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and as of mid-2012, its chair was Anne Sheehan (

California State Teachers' Retirement System The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits for California's 965,000 prekindergarten through community college educators and their families. CalSTRS was established by law in 191 ...

), and co-chairs were Lydia Beebe, Jay Chaudhuri, and Patrick O’Neill. The primary function of the CII is to develop and advocate for best practices in the field of corporate governance. These policies may relate to matters such as shareholder rights, executive compensation, CEO succession, and board refreshment. The CII explicitly advocates for equal shareholder voting rights under the " one share, one vote" principle of

shareholder democracy Shareholder democracy is a concept relating to the governance structure of modern corporations. In this structure, shareholders bear ultimate controlling authority over the corporation, as they are the owners and may exercise control within their e ...

. As such, the CII is strongly against dual-class stock structures, which create significant imbalances in corporate control. The Council also engages with proxy advisory firms, which advise most institutional investors on shareholder voting matters. The CII itself has a 15-person

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

that comprises 6 officer and 9 non-officer members. As of November 2022, Scott Zdrazil serves as

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the board, along with co-chairs Margaret Foran, Thomas McIntyre, and Aiesha Mastagni.

Notes

External links

* Institutional investors {{US-org-stub