Forum. The fund activists have never been so… active. Figures published by the bank Lazard reported 145 new activist campaigns in the first half of 2018, an increase of 6 % of capital deployed in these campaigns over the past year (” Review of Shareholder Activism – 1H 2018 “, Lazard’s Shareholder Advisory Group, July 2018). This challenge led by these funds to human resources, financial, legal and communication powerful is the manifestation of a paradigm shift in the relationship between shareholders and managers in listed companies.
On the one hand, the activist movement opens the way to the other shareholders, not just institutional, now less reluctant to marry the thesis activist when they believe it serves their interests, but also to the powerful agencies of the council in voting, such as ISS and Glass Lewis. It helps to build challenges to be decisive, as has been shown, for example, the folder Telecom Italia. It also favors the emergence of a new involvement ownership from all shareholders, including index funds, long accused of passive management.
On the other hand, the challenging shareholder will deploy on other land, bearing more on the basis of considerations exclusively financial. However, the subjects in which shareholders can take are innumerable. Alongside issues traditionally invested as the compensation of the officers, the legitimacy, the composition and the effective role of the board of directors, the strategy defended by the leadership team, the policy of distribution of dividends, taking into account the actual social, societal and environmental, are all issues likely to be under supervision shareholder.
Position of long-term
In addition, the activists do not hesitate to criticize openly the executive, up to apply for the revocation…
