Glass Lewis Shifts To Multi-Perspective Research Model: What Corporate Issuers Need To Know

On September 15, 2026, Glass Lewis announced that it was soliciting public comment on four research perspectives that will underpin its new research model that will be introduced in September 2027. As previously announced in October 2025, starting in 2027, Glass Lewis will begin offering more bespoke voting advice that will offer multiple perspectives so that clients can select research aligned with their own corporate governance philosophy. The move marks a significant evolution in how the firm delivers governance research to institutional investors and carries important implications for public company boards and governance professionals.

Under the new model, Glass Lewis clients will be able to choose one or more of the following four research perspectives:

1. Business Fundamentals: This research perspective will take a flexible view of governance standards for when boards and management teams have demonstrated a strong record of generating shareholder returns.‍
2. ‍Foundational Governance: This research perspective will treat core governance standards as essential to safeguard long-term shareholder value.‍
3. ‍Global Stewardship: This research perspective will integrate core governance standards with rigorous oversight of financially material sustainability risks to protect long-term shareholder value.‍
4. ‍Sustainability Focused: This research perspective will pair core governance standards with rigorous oversight of sustainability risks that are or could become financially material over extended time horizons and across portfolios, recognizing that asset owners have a fiduciary interest in the stability and integrity of the markets in which they invest.

Importantly, Glass Lewis will continue to offer its current Benchmark Voting Policy Guidelines and Proxy Paper research reports for the upcoming 2027 proxy season, which will be published in early October 2026. Changes to those existing guidelines will be limited to significant regulatory and corporate governance developments from 2026.

Comment Period

Glass Lewis has made a consultation paper, a survey questionnaire, and a companion paper comparing the perspectives at the proposal category level available on its website. The comment period closes October 16, 2026.

Key Takeaways

This shift has several practical implications for boards and governance teams:

1. Engagement strategies may need to evolve. With investors selecting different research perspectives, a company could receive varying vote recommendations depending on which research perspective an investor’s advisor applies. Companies should consider how their governance practices and disclosures perform under each of the four perspectives. Once Glass Lewis publishes its market-specific guidelines across the four perspectives, governance teams should assess which perspectives their key shareholders are likely to adopt and tailor their proxy disclosures and engagement accordingly.
2. Participate in the comment period. Glass Lewis has explicitly invited corporate stakeholders to weigh in. Issuers should take advantage of this opportunity to shape the final guidelines, particularly with respect to how the perspectives evaluate board composition, compensation, and sustainability oversight.
3. The 2027 proxy season is a bridge year. Because Glass Lewis will continue to apply its existing benchmark policy for the upcoming 2027 season, companies have a window to prepare for the full transition. Use this time to evaluate your governance and disclosure practices against the new perspectives.

We will continue to monitor developments as Glass Lewis releases additional details. Companies with questions about how these changes may affect their upcoming proxy season should reach out to our Public Companies & Corporate Governance team.