NEW YORK: Sard Verbinnen & Co. will launch an independent advisory group called Strategic Governance Advisors early next year for boards of directors and corporate leaders, the firm said Tuesday morning.
The group will advise on governance issues like proxy access, balance sheet integrity and capital plans, CSR expectations, board composition, and shareholder issues to boards and C-suite executives, the agency said in a statement.
The group will be led by founding partners Chris Cernich, formerly MD at Institutional Shareholder Services; Mark Harnett, MD at Sard Verbinnen and former president of MacKenzie Partners; and Amy Bilbija, formerly an MD in Evercore’s corporate advisory business.
Sard Verbinnen is planning to launch the organization in January with offices in New York and San Francisco. It described the group as a more specialized, independent capability of Sard Verbinnen’s internal governance consulting practice.
Sard Verbinnen sold a minority stake to investment firm Golden Gate Capital in May, which The New York Times reported was $60 million for a 40% stake in the firm. In September, the firm acquired New York-based research firm ARC Research.
