Background Founded in 1985 as a proxy advisory firm, ISS today offers a suite of corporate governance and responsible investment solutions, fund services, data and analytics for institutional investors worldwide. ISS’ services, and those of its non-investment advisory affiliates, are designed to help investors and companies achieve long-term and sustainable growth. ISS is part of the ISS STOXX group of companies1, whose principal ultimate owner is Deutsche Börse AG ("DB") with the remainder ultimately owned by private equity firm General Atlantic (“GA”). Services Provided Services Produced by ISS ISS seeks to help institutional investors understand corporate governance practices and make informed proxy voting decisions that suit their particular investment needs in many different markets across the globe. ISS also provides environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) data and ratings, thought leadership, research and other market information on corporate governance and voting practices and trends, portfolio screening and other assessment tools and services, all of which are available to assist investors in their wider ownership activities and responsibilities. As with any analytical investment tool, clients must determine whether and how to incorporate research or ratings into their investment decision-making process. ISS’ investment advisory services are primarily produced by two ISS business lines: ISS Governance and ISS ESG. ISS Governance Governance Research and Voting Services: These services include research, voting recommendations and voting-related services to help institutional investors understand corporate governance policies and practices and take these into account in their proxy voting and engagement activities. In 2023, ISS assisted approximately 2,000 clients make and execute informed proxy voting decisions for approximately 50,500 shareholder meetings in approximately 100 developed and emerging markets worldwide. As indicated below, ISS’ clients are primarily institutional investors, including investment managers, private-sector and public employee benefit plans, and mutual funds. Some of these clients pursue aggressive, short-term investment strategies, while others are risk-averse buy-and-hold investors. Some are focused solely on maximizing profit, while others seek to achieve reasonable financial returns in a way that aligns with their religious or philosophical beliefs. Some ISS clients themselves pursue divergent investment and proxy voting strategies, depending on the needs of their own clientele. 1 The ISS STOXX group of companies consists of the companies which are wholly-owned, directly or indirectly, by ISS Stoxx GmbH, a holding company that owns ISS and is ultimately owned by DB and GA. Today, the ISS STOXX group of companies consists of the following businesses: ISS Governance, ISS ESG, ISS SCAS, STOXX, ISS-Corporate, and ISS MI, each of which is described below. I S S G O V E R N A N C E . C O M 6 o f 1 8 In order to meet the needs of this diverse clientele, ISS offers a Benchmark Voting Policy and a range of Specialty Voting Policies that reflect clients’ varied investment strategies and goals. ISS also assists investors in implementing custom voting policies that investors develop in-house, in consultation with their governance departments, boards of trustees, and portfolio managers. The ISS Benchmark Voting Policy serves as a tool to assist institutional investors in promoting long-term shareholder value, good governance, and risk mitigation. As described more fully in the Methods of Analysis, Investment Strategies and Risk of Loss Section below, this Policy—which differs market to market—is developed through a robust, inclusive, and transparent process, which is open to investors, companies, and the general public. In addition, ISS currently offers Specialty Voting Policies that evaluate voting matters from the following different thematic perspectives:
• Global Board-Aligned Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations that allow companies to operate within the flexible framework of the laws, regulations and exchange requirements that govern them, while maintaining proper safeguards, including governance structures and practices, that foster and protect long-term value creation for shareholders.
• Faith Based Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations that are broadly consistent with the objectives of socially responsible shareholders as well as the teachings of Catholicism and Christianity as a whole.
• Climate Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations based on a model for assessment of a company’s climate-related performance and disclosures. The model draws on widely recognized frameworks, including the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and balances the need for good disclosure on climate-related-risks with a company’s performance on key climate-related factors.
• Public Fund Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations to assist public funds, with the intent of maximizing the long-term economic benefits of plan participants, beneficiaries, and citizens of the state in which the fund resides. The guidelines are generally designed to help public funds vote their proxies in a manner consistent with widely accepted corporate governance and corporate responsibility practices that lead to increased long-term shareholder value.
• Socially Responsible Investor (SRI) Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations that are consistent with the financial and social objectives of socially responsible shareholders.
• Sustainability Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations that promote support for recognized global governing bodies that promote sustainable business practices and advocate for stewardship of the environment, fair labor practices, nondiscrimination, and the protection of human rights.
• Taft-Hartley Policy voting guidelines, designed to provide analyses and recommendations that are based upon the AFL-CIO Proxy Voting Guidelines and with a focus on a worker-owner view of long- term shareholder value. I S S G O V E R N A N C E . C O M 7 o f 1 8 As an alternative to its proprietary policies, ISS often prepares research and voting recommendations based on a client’s own custom voting policies which reflect their own specific approaches to proxy voting and/or the mandates they have with the clients for whom they manage assets. ISS implements customized voting policies and issues custom policy vote recommendations for approximately

380 clients. These customized voting policies reflect clients’ unique corporate governance and voting philosophies. Accordingly, the vote recommendations issued under these policies may – and often do – differ from those issued under the ISS Benchmark Voting Policy and Specialty Voting Policies. ISS’ ProxyExchange (“PX”) application provides clients with end-to-end management of their proxy voting process. ISS clients can control their voting policy(ies) and final proxy voting decisions while leveraging ISS in the processing and data management elements of the proxy voting process. To this end, ISS receives proxy ballots on behalf of many clients, works with custodian banks, assists clients in executing their proxy votes, maintains vote records, and provides comprehensive reporting. Special Situations Research: This service provides in-depth analyses regarding high-profile mergers and acquisitions, proxy contests and other strategic corporate transactions that are put to a shareholder vote. Through this service, ISS helps clients better understand the strategic rationale for each covered transaction, and its impact on valuation, corporate governance and shareholder rights. Special Situations Research clients typically receive analyses throughout the full lifecycle of the events covered, from deal announcement through the shareholder meeting. Vote Disclosure Service: ISS offers its Vote Disclosure Service to help investment companies and 13(f) filers comply with their respective regulatory disclosure obligations. ISS collects vote history reports and prepares the extensive information the SEC requires investment companies to file on Form N-PX, as well as the say-on- pay vote information 13(f) filers are required to report beginning in 2024. ISS also offers a comprehensive reporting service that includes daily updates of funds, meetings, and agenda information. The Vote Disclosure Service can also be used by institutional investor clients, whether investment companies or not, to fulfill voluntary or mandatory vote disclosure obligations. Add-On Workflow Solutions: ISS offers several solutions to help investors increase efficiency in the proxy voting process. For example, ISS Communicator helps investors disseminate information on proxy meetings to internal stakeholders and assists in internal collaboration by the client on its vote decisions. ISS also offers tools to assist investors in their engagement process, such as databasing engagement notes or preparing engagement materials. ISS ESG ISS ESG’s following offerings are designed to provide clients choice by addressing a wide variety of questions in support of investors’ diverse investment strategies. Screening & Controversies: This service identifies corporate involvement in a range of controversial products, business practices and high-risk sectors, allowing clients to screen, monitor and analyze responsible investment performance. ISS ESG’s analysts provide on-going monitoring and research on company practices, assessing information gathered from numerous sources complemented by analysis, research, and engagement. Analysts gather information through publicly available sources, conduct interviews with stakeholders, and collect information on the policies and practices of covered companies. I S S G O V E R N A N C E . C O M 8 o f 1 8 ESG Ratings & Rankings: Through its ESG Ratings & Rankings solutions, ISS ESG provides comparable analyses on companies, countries and bonds, providing investors with the ability to incorporate sustainability into their investment processes, including on a customizable basis. ISS ESG’s ratings aim to assist investors to minimize ESG risks, comply with evolving regulatory and stakeholder requirements and capitalize on potential opportunities. ISS ESG’s proprietary rating concept places a sector-specific focus on the materiality of non-financial information. Climate Solutions: ISS ESG provides a suite of climate solutions designed to provide investors with a better understanding of their exposure to climate-related risks in their portfolios. Through its dedicated team, ISS ESG offers a range of data and intelligence on climate change performance and risk and its impact on investments. In addition to carbon footprint data, ISS ESG assesses potential avoided emissions, transitional and physical risk, and future carbon performance - based on nearly 100 sector-specific indicators. Indices: ISS ESG data is also used in the construction of thematic indices in various ways. ISS ESG and its affiliated benchmark administrator (STOXX Ltd.) work with asset managers, asset owners, investment funds and other clients to create thematic and customized indices incorporating ISS ESG data. In addition, ISS ESG supplies its data to third parties who create their own indices or investment products. Finally, ISS ESG licenses certain proprietary indices for the creation of passive financial investment products or for benchmarking. These indices are administered by an unaffiliated authorized benchmark administrator under the European Union Benchmark Regulation. Services Produced by Third Parties Access to Other Third-Party Research In addition to providing access to its own Governance Research and Voting services through the PX platform, ISS also provides access through the platform to independent third-party proxy research material to some clients that subscribe directly to such third-party research and pay the third-party directly for that research. ISS does not have a role in producing such research and is not affiliated with the research providers. Additionally, some of ISS’ proprietary work products can contain certain summary data supplied by independent providers. Securities Class Action Services ISS Governance also distributes the services of ISS’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Securities Class Action Services, LLC (“ISS SCAS”). This company, which is not a registered investment adviser, offers a fully outsourced securities class action claims filing service which involves monitoring securities class and group action litigation and settlements on behalf of mutual fund, investment manager, and pension fund clients. This service provides global coverage. ISS SCAS is available in three levels of service, designed to meet a variety of professional needs. This includes claims filing, portfolio monitoring, and research. I S S G O V E R N A N C E . C O M 9 o f 1 8 A COMPLETE LIST OF ISS’ PRODUCT OFFERINGS CAN BE FOUND ON ISS’ WEBSITE AT: www.issgovernance.com.