Highlights from a new article on hedge fund activism on behalf of long-term shareholder value, from Robert Eccles (Oxford University), Aeisha Mastagni (CalSTRS), and Kirsty Jenkinson (CalSTRS): The time has come for “activist stewardship.” Simply put, this means putting the skills and techniques of activist hedge funds to work where a company’s financial performance is…
Category: activism
Activist Investors Nominate Nine Directors to Kohl’s Board – WSJ
A group of activist investors has a big stake in Kohl’s Corp. KSS 8.48% and is attempting to take control of the department-store chain’s board, according to people familiar with the matter. A group that includes activists Macellum Advisors GP LLC, Ancora Holdings Inc. and Legion Partners Asset Management LLC, as well as 4010 Capital…
Proxy Contest at Exxon
Engine No. 1 has formally nominated the four directors it intends to install to Exxon’s board, launching a campaign the activist says will “ensure a clean break” for the oil major. The move comes less than two months after newly established activist Engine No. 1 wrote a letter to Exxon’s board criticizing the company’s performance….
Make climate risk reports mandatory for 480 FTSE firms, say investors | Environment | The Guardian
An influential group of investors is urging UK regulators to make climate risk reporting mandatory for nearly 500 FTSE-listed firms. The Investment Association (IA), which represents 250 members with £8.5tn in assets, has thrown its weight behind calls for compulsory environmental disclosures, amid concerns that listed companies are not being transparent about how climate risks…
Five myths about shareholders — Christopher Marquis
Cornell professor Christopher Marquis writes this week’s “Five Myths” column in The Washington Post. We don’t agree with all of his points; most important, we believe that there is no trade-off of profitability in managing risk by incorporating sustainability concerns, and we note that most American workers are “small shareholders” via retirement plans, 401(k)s, or…
COVID-19 and Activism
From Sidley Austin: As the COVID-19 pandemic began to unfold in the US in early March, it quickly became clear that the crisis would act as a “poison pill” that would sharply reduce shareholder activism in the spring. Initially, many activists were preoccupied with their own survival and/ or attracting new capital rather than launching…
Billionaire Chris Hohn forces first annual investor vote on climate policy | Financial Times
Spanish airports operator Aena is set to become the first company in the world to give shareholders an annual vote on its effort to tackle climate change, bowing to pressure from billionaire UK hedge fund manager Chris Hohn. Sir Christopher’s TCI Fund Management, one of Aena’s largest independent shareholders, has been at loggerheads with the…
Boohoo Group PLC vows to rectify failings but margins remain a question
Boohoo Group PLC (LON:BOO) has vowed to address its corporate governance responsibilities after an independent review confirmed poor working conditions and low rates of pay in its supply chain. The report found that Its senior directors “knew for a fact that there were very serious issues about the treatment of factory workers in Leicester and…
Activist Trian Fund Management Takes Stake in Comcast – WSJ
Tough when the insiders have controlling shares, but then Trian is pretty savvy. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Trian Fund Management LP, a hedge fund known for pushing big companies to make operational and other changes, has launched an activist campaign against Comcast Corp. in a bet that the cable-TV and…
Rio Tinto Executives Step Down After Shareholder Revolt over Sacred Australian Sites – The New York Times
In May, the minerals giant Rio Tinto decided to blow up the caves [containing sacred Aboriginal artifacts] to get at the riches below. But on Friday, it became clear that Australia’s most powerful export industry had met a force it could not bulldoze: the global movement for racial justice. The company announced that its chief…
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