11.02.2006 - 01:22pm ET

(CSRwire) BOSTON and SAN FRANCISCO - KLD Research & Analytics, Inc., the leading authority on social research and indexes for institutional investors, today announced the launch of the KLD Proxy Voting Guidelines Service in partnership with Glass, Lewis & Co., the operator of the world's most accurate and reliable proxy voting system.

The new service, available through Glass Lewis' online vote agency system, ViewPoint, enables automatic ballot instruction and proxy vote execution in accordance with KLD guidelines. The KLD guidelines cover both management and shareholder resolutions and address a broad range of topics including community, corporate governance, diversity, the environment, and human rights.

Since 1995, the KLD guidelines have been available only to licensees of KLD Indexes, including the Domini 400 Social Index.

"Now institutional investors, not just our index licensees, will have access to our proxy voting guidelines," said Peter D. Kinder, KLD's President. "We are very pleased to be working with Glass Lewis. The combination of our knowledge of environmental, social and corporate governance issues (ESG), and socially responsible investment (SRI) coupled with Glass Lewis' experience in proxy voting yields an unmatchable product for institutional shareholders."

"The partnership expands the traditional domains of both companies. Our first joint offering stems from the need to address the growing number of ESG-related resolutions and to give a broader audience access to KLD's research," added Kinder.

According to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), shareholders filed 238 proxy resolutions concerning ESG at over 100 companies in the 2006 proxy season. The ICCR is a coalition of over 275 faith-based institutional investors who sponsor or support resolutions on ESG issues.

Glass Lewis' ViewPoint voting system is highly flexible and customizable, allowing institutional investors and money managers to vote proxies in accordance with their own policy, workflow, and compliance priorities. The system enables partial or complete outsourcing of the proxy voting process and includes modules for client account setup and custodian interaction; proxy analysis and decision making; policy implementation; electronic vote submission; record-keeping; auditing; standard and custom reporting; Form N-PX creation; and optional vote record web hosting.

"We are pleased to be partnered with KLD and to provide investors with their expert and acknowledged insight on ESG issues," said Gregory P. Taxin, CEO of Glass Lewis. "Now investors can choose the world's most sophisticated voting solution while implementing the most sophisticated socially responsible proxy voting policy."


About KLD Research & Analytics, Inc.

KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. is an independent investment research firm providing investment management tools used by professionals to serve clients requiring investment strategies based on social and environmental responsibility. Since 1988, institutional investors, managers, trustees, consultants, and advisors have depended on the quality and expertise of KLD. Institutional money managers worldwide use KLD's research to integrate environmental, social, and governance factors into their investment decisions. KLD products and services are used for screening, compliance, and asset gathering. More than $10 billion is invested in funds based on KLD indexes. For more information, see www.kld.com


About Glass, Lewis & Co.

Glass Lewis & Co, LLC is a leading investment research and professional services firm, serving institutions that collectively manage more than $13 trillion. Glass Lewis helps institutional investors make more informed investment and proxy voting decisions by identifying business, legal, governance and financial statement risk at more than 13,000 companies worldwide. It also operates the world's most accurate and reliable proxy voting and compliance management system. Founded in 2003, Glass Lewis is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Denver, London, Sydney and Tokyo. For more information, go to www.glasslewis.com.

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