Media Center Press Releases

Equilar Launches BoardEdge, a Digital Solution for Board Succession Planning

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REDWOOD CITY, CA (September 9, 2015) — An increased emphasis on accountability and diversity in corporate boardrooms requires companies to take a proactive approach to succession planning and shareholder engagement. In response, Equilar has launched BoardEdge, a digital platform that helps identify potential new board members that will strengthen those areas of greatest potential concern to shareholders.

“An effective and independent platform to evaluate board composition is critical for today’s companies,” said David Chun, founder and CEO of Equilar. “To compare with the information and access investors already have at their fingertips, boards are eager for technology solutions that can help inform decisions that meet their short-term needs and long-term goals.”

BoardEdge collects, organizes and constantly updates data on 135,000 public company board members and executives, and highlights data points institutional investors use to evaluate boards. The platform combines vast amounts of available public information with the ever-growing need for speed and accuracy in courting and appointing board members. BoardEdge’s information and technology are unrivaled in addressing three key facets of board succession planning: Assessment, Discovery and Connection.

Assess

In an age of increased shareholder engagement—and more and more frequently, activism—companies must proactively track their peers’ activity to quickly identify gaps, needs and timing when it comes to succession planning.

BoardEdge’s assessment tool organizes and highlights the same data points that institutional investors use to evaluate board composition—including age, tenure, gender, share ownership and industry experience. This information is arranged so companies can proactively track activity and benchmark against their peers, which not only provides a level playing field when facing risks posed by activists, but also informs open engagement and transparent disclosure with all shareholders.

Discover

As more companies disclose skillsets of their boards, demand from shareholders to match the skills of peer companies is likely to increase. BoardEdge allows companies to create custom skills searches, maintain lists of potential candidates and download the list for review with their boards. The database of over 135,000 public company board members and executives offers a slate of potential candidates who meet various experiential and demographic criteria, ensuring that targets adequately represent shareholder interests.

Connect

Identifying the right skills and the right diversity mix and finding potential candidates that fit those requirements is a crucial step in succession planning, but the last—and potentially most challenging—piece of the puzzle is actually making the connection to bring the right people into the boardroom.

BoardEdge provides the ability to view myriad ways in which companies are linked to individuals, including historical connections, to support recruiting and business development, and outreach opportunities are clearly displayed in the search results.

To learn more, please visit www.equilar.com/boardedge.html.

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About Equilar

Founded in 2000, Equilar provides proprietary executive data, unbiased research services and exclusive corporate governance tools. Our flagship products – Insight, BoardEdge, Engage, and Atlas – translate complex, unstructured data sets into valuable information to help executives, board members, and investors make the best decisions possible. As the trusted data provider to 70% of the Fortune 500, Equilar helps companies accurately benchmark and track executive and board compensation. Equilar’s research is cited regularly by The New York Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, Associated Press, CNN Money, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal and other leading media outlets.

For more information, contact:

Amit Batish
Director, Content & Marketing Communications, Equilar
abatish@equilar.com
650-241-6697