Company History

From many comes one. RiskMetrics Group is one company, one brand – built upon the union of leaders in the risk management, corporate governance and research disciplines.

RiskMetrics was “born” in 1994 as an internal function within JP Morgan that developed a VAR model, producing the “4:15 report” that measured end of day portfolio risk. The RiskMetrics methodology was then published, became a standard and was developed into a software product in 1996. Two years later, RiskMetrics was spun out of JP Morgan as a separate company.

Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) was founded in 1985 with the goal to promote good corporate governance in the private sector and raise the level of responsible proxy voting among institutional investors and pension fund fiduciaries.  In 1986, ISS launched its Proxy Advisory Service to assist institutional investors in fulfilling their fiduciary obligations with comprehensive proxy analysis.  RiskMetrics Group acquired ISS in January 2007.

CFRA was founded in 1994 to provide institutional investors with early warning signs of business deterioration within portfolio companies.  CFRA built a rigorous and proprietary forensic accounting research process for assessing the quality and sustainability of companies’ reported financial results and expanded into specialty legal, regulatory and due diligence research.  RiskMetrics Group acquired CFRA in August 2007.

Today, RiskMetrics Group consists of three primary business units – risk management, ISS governance services and financial research & analysis, all of which help investors assess risk in one form or another.  Through our various areas of expertise, we serve over 3300 of the most important institutions and corporations around the world.

Through our growth and acquisitions, the company’s core brand attributes of expertise, innovation, integrity, transparency and the highest quality people, products and client service remain constant. As we grow, our broader vision for the future requires the development of a scalable and lasting brand framework. The new RiskMetrics Group brand strategy reflects the evolution of the company, our core disciplines and our aspirational destination.