Di Costa Partners Expands Registered Fund Proxy Advisory Consulting Practice, Appoints Alex Pulisic as Senior Advisor

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Di Costa Partners (DCP), a strategic advisory and proxy solicitation company focused exclusively on registered funds (mutual funds, ETFs & closed-end funds) and subsidiary of Morrow Sodali, today announced the appointment of Alex Pulisic as Senior Advisor. This marks an expansion of the DCP service offering to include research and advisory services around proxy advisory firm recommendations to clients in the registered funds space. In this role, Alex will be responsible for providing strategic consulting around the critical drivers of proxy advisory firms, such as Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass-Lewis, assessments of shareholder proposals for DCP’s registered funds clients.

Prior to joining DCP, Alex served as Senior Vice President and the senior researcher at Institutional Shareholder Services group of companies, where he led the research and advisory practice for the fund governance group. At ISS, Alex crafted governance policies that drive ISS’ vote recommendations, which institutional investors rely on to help them make informed governance decisions. Alex also advised ISS institutional shareholder clients on contentious and complex scenarios as a member of ISS' Contested Situations Research group.

In his new role, Alex will leverage his 15 years of ISS experience to help DCP clients reach their goals and address increasing changes in the fund governance landscape.

“Alex brings a valuable skillset to the DCP team, having led the research team that makes recommendations on all fund shareholder proposals at ISS,” explained Vin Di Costa, CEO of DCP. “He will be critical in helping our clients understand the ISS perspective and the rationale behind their analysis. DCP will be better equipped to assist our fund clients in structuring shareholder proposals in a way that is more likely to garner ISS support.”

Alex’s experience complements DCP’s proprietary analytical and solicitation model to particularly help closed-end funds facing unique challenges.

Alex Pulisic commented, “DCP has an established practice and strong track record of serving closed-end funds that are threatened by activist investors. I am excited to be a part of the DCP team and help those funds counter the arguments from an increasing number of predatory activist attacks.”

Steve Messinger, President of DCP, added, “Closed-end fund managers need to understand how the independent proxy advisors will view their fights as activists try to secure board seats or force rights offerings. Alex brings unparalleled insights for DCP clients that no other fund proxy adviser can offer.”

About Di Costa Partners
Di Costa Partners (DCP) is the premier provider of registered fund proxy solicitation and advisory services. DCP brings more than 35 years of knowledge assisting registered fund companies and boards in connection with all aspects of the shareholder meeting process. DCP offers its clients a proven shareholder analytical voting model that drives solicitation strategy to retail and institutional shareholders. DCP is a subsidiary of Morrow Sodali, the leading global consultancy providing comprehensive governance and shareholder services to corporate clients around the world. For more information visit: www.dicostapartners.com.