Led Team Making All Vote Recommendations on Proxy Fights and Contentious Mergers at Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
NEW YORK & WASHINGTON -- Strategic Governance Advisors (“SGA”), a leading advisor to public companies which have or expect to have conflict with their shareholders, today announced that Cristiano Guerra has joined the firm as a Partner. Based in Washington, D.C., Guerra will advise Boards of Directors and corporate leaders on a range of governance issues important to institutional investors.
Guerra joins SGA from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the world’s leading proxy advisor, where he has served in various senior roles over the past 15 years. He most recently was Head of Special Situations Research, leading a global ISS team that analyzed and provided voting recommendations to institutional investors on the financial and strategic implications of proxy contests, contentious mergers & acquisitions, and other key shareholder votes and investor campaigns. He previously led ISS’s U.S. Research team, which covers uncontested meetings of all U.S.-listed public companies.
Co-founded in 2017 with strategic communications & public affairs consultancy FGS Global, SGA supports public company Boards and executives by objectively evaluating their governance profile, compensation structure, market dynamics and operational health to increase confidence in and support of their shareholders. Guerra adds unparalleled expertise on today’s most critical corporate governance matters, joining a team of senior partners who have previously led ISS’s proxy fights and contentious mergers team, the development and implementation of ISS’s executive compensation analyses, activism practice groups at investment banks, and/or bring significant investor experience and perspective from both the buy-side and sell-side.
Chris Cernich, SGA Co-Founder and Managing Partner, said, “Cristiano’s point of view has been consequential on hundreds of transactions and proxy contests, and for 15 years he has actively engaged with issuers, shareholders and other to develop a deep understanding of what matters most to institutional investors. We are excited for him to join our team as we advise clients on these critical matters to help them succeed.”
Guerra said, “My engagement with investors, directors, and corporate executives in my roles at ISS has been a priceless education, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunities and support I received during my 15 years at the firm. I am excited to join the impressive SGA team, many of whom are my former colleagues, to bring our collective experience to bear to drive successful outcomes for clients. With the support of the strong global platform of FGS, I am confident we can forge deep and lasting partnerships with a growing roster of clients around the world.”
About Cristiano Guerra
Guerra has served as Head of Special Situations Research at ISS since 2017. His prior roles at ISS included Head of US Research and Head of Latin America Research. Prior to ISS, for eight years he held various roles at TranSecur, Inc., a global private intelligence organization that serviced corporate clients. He served as COO for Analytical Services at the company overseeing the operations of the company, and before that as Senior Analyst of Latin America where he managed a team of analysts providing global intelligence to multinational corporations. Mr. Guerra has a Bachelor of Science from Indiana University. He grew up in Brazil and is fluent in English, Portuguese, French and Spanish.
About SGA
SGA has advised on numerous activist situations ranging from private approaches resolved amicably to such high-profile public confrontations as Disney’s successful defense against Trian Partners’ campaigns for board seats and Wyndham Resorts’ successful defense against a hostile takeover by Choice Hotels. Bloomberg ranked SGA the #1 Strategic Adviser in proxy contests globally for companies worth more than $1 billion.