T. Rowe Price hires Aicardi from ISS for governance role

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Mutual fund company T. Rowe Price Associates has hired a veteran executive from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services' special situations group to lead its proxy voting and governance engagement program in the Americas.

Nina Aicardi begins work at T. Rowe Price TROW.O, one of the world's biggest asset managers, on Friday. As head of corporate governance, Americas, at T. Rowe Price Associates, one of T. Rowe Price's investment advisers, she will assume some responsibilities from Donna Anderson, who heads corporate governance at the investment firm and is retiring at the end of September, a T. Rowe Price spokesman confirmed to Reuters.

"Nina and Donna will work together in Donna's remaining days at T. Rowe Price Associates to ensure a seamless transition," spokesman Bill Benintende said. ISS declined to comment on the move and Aicardi could not be reached for comment.

T. Rowe Price oversees $1.7 trillion in assets and its views on hot-button issues like proxy contests are widely followed.

Over her nearly two decades at the firm, Anderson became one of the most powerful voices in the tight-knit corporate governance world, helping shape voting policies and laying them out publicly. She joined T. Rowe Price in 2007.

Anderson's duties will be split between Aicardi and Jocelyn Brown who was promoted to T. Rowe Price Associates' global head of corporate governance in July.

Brown joined the asset manager in 2020 as head of corporate governance, EMEA and APAC.

Brown will remain based in London while Aicardi will work from Baltimore, where T. Rowe Price is headquartered.

At ISS, where she worked for six years, Aicardi helped determine the outcomes of proxy contests between prominent hedge funds and companies through recommendations on how investors should cast votes.

A number of key personnel changes have occurred in the governance world this year, including Anderson's planned retirement, first reported by Reuters in March.

In the last weeks, BlackRock BLK.N, the world's biggest asset manager, made a series of management changes in its stewardship team which votes on issues ranging from lobbying disclosures to a corporation's stance on climate change.

ISS in January promoted a veteran executive to head the special situations group to replace the former head who left for another position.