The Council of Institutional Investors

CII was founded in 1985, a time of corporate takeovers, imperial CEOs and insulated boards of directors. Shareowners had little say in most corporate decisions and did not appreciate the potential power of their proxy votes. The founders were a group of 21 visionary public pension fund officials who believed that the companies in which they were investing their members’ retirement assets needed more oversight by shareholders. They also felt that by pooling their resources, institutional investors could use their burgeoning proxy power to hold companies accountable. CII's founding co-chairs were State Treasurer of California Jesse Unruh, New York City Comptroller Harrison J. Goldin and State of Wisconsin Investment Board Chair John Konrad.