Activism Archive

How has your firm’s approach to Japan evolved? We have been investing in Japan for two decades now. Until about 2017, we didn’t have much of an allocation but now we have invested more than £400 mn ($524 mn), which is almost 50 percent of our assets. What changed for us was the introduction of the corporate governance code in 2015, which was part of Shinzo Abe’s three-arrow policy to try to improve corporate value and increase the use ...

Institutional investors are increasingly taking the lead on shareholder activism, causing a surge in campaigns focused on corporate governance, according to new research.  CGLytics, the governance data provider, looked back at activist activity globally over the last three and a half years. It finds the number of campaigns focused on governance grew by 45 percent between 2017 and 2018 and by 26 percent between 2018 and 2019.  The first half of 2020 saw 797 ...

We have become used to living in lockdown. We have become used to birdsong replacing traffic noise, to working from home, to virtual meetings. We have become used to Webex, to staying in, to social distancing. Many are predicting that the changes thrust upon us by Covid-19 could have a lasting impact on the world of business and work: business travel, large offices and meetings are set to shrink as professionals around the world weigh up the costs and benefits of adopting ...

– Shareholder activism fell sharply in March as the spread of Covid-19 accelerated, reported Reuters. The number of campaigns launched in March stood at 16, a fall of 38 percent compared with February, according to data from investment bank Lazard. ‘Lower M&A activity and companies focused on conserving cash will mean ...