Avi Mehrotra

What’s driving the surge in shareholder activism activity?

Avinash Mehrotra, Pamela Codo-Lotti, Alison Nathan, Avi Mehrotra, Pam Kodoloti

By March 2023, activist investor campaigns reached pre-pandemic intensity with a record $13.13 billion raised by Elliot Management, driving a surge in pressure on one in four S&P 500 companies and expanding into large-cap targets in Japan and Europe. Activists are shifting strategies from inorganic growth to operational efficiency and capital returns, utilizing new universal proxy rules and increased capital availability to target defensive corporations in tech, healthcare, and industrials. As multiple investors increasingly "swarm" single firms, companies are responding by adopting proactive, data-driven governance reviews to preemptively address vulnerabilities in board composition and capital allocation.