Innovest bought by RiskMetrics

RI Exclusive: Innovest, the SRI research house, is being bought by RiskMetrics Group, the US risk management and corporate governance group. An announcement on the deal is expected to be made shortly. RiskMetrics has been steadily increasing its presence in the responsible investment field in recent years and in 2007 acquired Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), the US proxy voting agency. Sources close to the deal said the tie-upbetween RiskMetrics and Innovest would be complimentary with RiskMetrics adding to its RI research capacity through Innovest. They said the deal also included the sales of minority stakes in Innovest, which had been held since 2003 by ABP, the giant Dutch pension fund and State Street Global Advisors.