Avinash Mehrotra
Showing 1–2 of 2 transcripts.
- Goldman Sachs17 min
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.
- Goldman Sachs10 min
Activism Activity on the Rise
Shareholder activism has reached record levels driven by a surge in non-dedicated participants and a robust M&A market that is fueling a wave of corporate separations and portfolio simplifications. Concurrently, the focus of campaigns has shifted decisively toward ESG themes, with major capital holders like BlackRock and millennial investors pressuring boards to align compensation and strategy with sustainability goals. Companies now face a complex landscape where they must aggressively monitor valuation gaps, prepare for aggressive ESG-related proxy contests, and reconsider their public status to mitigate risks from both specialized activists and opportunistic retail investors.