Poor corporate practices can heighten investor risk

Corporate behavior is under a bright spotlight, and a new tool gives individual shareholders information that was previously reserved for institutional investors

A company's rank against both its peers and the broad market in terms of governance and best practices is available without charge at Yahoo Finance, a service of Internet Portal Yahoo Inc.

The rating system, a venture between Yahoo and Institutional Shareholder Services, a Washington-based advisor to large institutions, aims to give investors better insights about a lesser-known influence on portfolio returns.

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