NEW YORK: ICR has launched a governance advisory solutions practice and picked Lyndon Park to lead it as MD.
The new practice will advise boards of directors and management teams on corporate governance matters and how to engage institutional investors. It will provide consultation services on proxy-related matters, ESG (environmental, social, and governance) programs, activism and hostile situations, disclosure practices, and C-suite and board-level talent review.
Park started at ICR this week and is based in New York, according to an ICR representative. He joins ICR from Dimensional Fund Advisors, where he was head of global corporate governance. He also had a stint as VP for BlackRock Investment Stewardship.
In those roles, Park oversaw governance and stewardship initiatives, covering and making decisions in proxy battles such as Procter & Gamble vs. Trian Partners and Valeant and Pershing Square vs. Allergan, a statement said.
Corporate governance has changed "dramatically" over the past five years, as large asset managers take a "more proactively independent stance on issues concerning ESG, activism, and corporate strategy," Park said in an emailed statement.
"Companies can no longer afford to rely on the prima facie assumptions about these investors’ stewardship teams to win their support on matters critical to their business," Park said.
As such, ICR hopes to leverage Park’s experience and platform to help clients on "positive short-term outcomes and long-term relationships with their shareholders."
Park was also a committee member of the SEC Regulations Committee at the Center for Audit Quality, a nonprofit advocating for auditors, and the head of governance and listing standards at the Equilibrium Stock Exchange, according to his LinkedIn profile.
ICR had 186 staffers and 550 clients in March 2018, when ICR sold part of the company to Investcorp to grow its business. Financial details were not disclosed.
Investcorp has $22.2 billion in assets under management.
In September, ICR acquired Continuum Health Communications for an undisclosed amount, bringing on founder and CEO Terry Clevenger as MD. The boutique firm was rebranded as Continuum Health – an ICR Company.
Over the summer, ICR named Frank Maturo as chairman of ICR Capital. He was the former co-head of the equity capital markets group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. ICR also launched an executive advisory and corporate transformation practice through a partnership with Elm Street Advisors under the leadership of James Scully, head of Elm Street Advisors.
Editors note: This story was corrected on November 1 to accurately reflect ICR's number of staffers and clients.
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