iconik Launches Innovative Proxy Voting Platform with Impact Investing Leader Green Alpha Investments
First customizable voting technology for financial advisors
BERKELEY, Calif., Feb. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — iconik announces a partnership with Green Alpha Investments to empower investors with personalized, automated shareholder voting and impact reporting.
The industry’s first personalized, “set and forget” shareholder voting technology, iconik will enable investors to easily create customized voting policies that reflect their unique values. Known for their robust proxy voting, Green Alpha will work with iconik to offer client-tailored voting.
“Not every one of our clients has the same vision for how they want to see the economy of tomorrow unfolding,” explains Jeremy Deems, Green Alpha’s Co-Founder and CFO. “We’re excited for the iconik platform to facilitate the conversation with clients about their values and priorities. Customized reporting will expand our ability to show clients how their investments are making a difference in a more streamlined way than we could show previously.”
Investors want to be heard. According to recent research from Stanford, 98% of Millennial investors believe it’s important to use shareholder voting power to influence companies on the environment; 94% for Gen-X and 84% for Boomers. But the environment is just one of many issues investors are weighing in on.
“It’s about voice and agency,” explains iconik Chief Executive Officer Alex Thaler. “2023 investors demand returns, but also that their investments reflect their values. At this moment, people and organizations around the world are pushing public companies on the most important issues of our time, offering rich opportunities for investors to vote their values and be heard. But antiquated technology and a lack of tooling make it all but impossible for investors and their advisors to take full advantage of these opportunities.”
About iconik VoteForge
VoteForge enables clients to create personalized voting profiles that match their values, engaging with issues that matter to them and skipping the ones that don’t. Each unique voting profile automatically votes shares across a portfolio. Iconik is the first and only service to close the loop with personalized impact reports.
“These issues are very different from investor to investor. People may have an environmental concern but differ on women’s healthcare or religious values. They may have different viewpoints on corporate governance and independence, on profits vs animal welfare,” explains iconik President J. Alan Reid. “We customize proxies based on investor values with an easy, focused, set-it-and-forget-it model.”
“iconik will streamline the proxy voting process for us,” Deems explains. “We’re looking forward to the back office efficiencies that come with automating the time-consuming process of proxy voting.”
About Green Alpha Investments
Initially Green Alpha will be offering the iconik platform to some of their separately managed account clients. Green Alpha Investments developed its proprietary Next Economy™ investment approach in 2007 and has been managing sustainable, fossil fuel free, impact-oriented investment strategies since 2008 For more information, visit www.greenalphaadvisors.com.
About iconik
Founded by Alex Thaler and Chief Technology Officer Samson Sprouse in 2021, iconik is defining a new market based on the transformative power of shareholder voting. The team combines the consumer and business technology expertise of Chief Executive Officer Alex Thaler, startup founder, software engineer and former corporate attorney, Chief Technology Officer Samson Sprouse, veteran engineering leader, and President J. Alan Reid, an innovator in the financial service industry for three decades. For more information, visit www.iconikapp.com.
CONTACT: Contact: [email protected] Janine Urbaniak - 415/326-6642
