What are activist investors? Investing Explained

In this series, we bust the jargon and explain a popular investing term or theme. Here it’s activist investors. 

Someone who invests in gyms? 

That would be right. An activist investor buys stakes in all types of companies to bring about reforms, such as breaking up the business, increasing the dividend payouts or ousting the chief executive. 

The overall objective may be unclear, but the aim is to make money, although this may not happen. 

Most activist investors are hedge funds, but institutions can become involved. 

Cashing in: An activist investor buys stakes in all types of companies to bring about reforms

Why is this in the news now? 

In the United States, there has been an upsurge in activist activity, some of it in response to a tweak to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the investment watchdog. 

This week, the Disney chief executive Bob Chapek was unseated and replaced by Bob Iger, the former incumbent. 

The activist investor Daniel Loeb, boss of hedge fund Third Point, has been pushing for major change at Disney. 

What firms are under pressure? 

Big Tech is in the activists’ sights. Alphabet, owner of Google, is under attack from TCI, the hedge fund led by the British manager Chris Hohn. TCI, which holds a $6billion (£4.9billion) stake in Alphabet, wants the tech titan to slash its costs. Brad Gerstner, boss of hedge fund Altimeter Capital, is also agitating for lower expenditure – at the Facebook and Instagram group Meta. 

Altimeter wants Meta to focus less on the metaverse. Meta shares have jumped by 20 per cent over the past month, while Alphabet is up by 3 per cent. 

Anything happening in the UK? 

A great deal. Nelson Peltz, 80, of Trian Fund Management, may be best known as Brooklyn Beckham’s father-in-law. 

But he is also making his presence felt at Unilever, the Marmite and Magnum group, where he holds a £1.4billion stake. 

Peltz is on the board, and reported to be casting around for candidates to take over as chief executive when Alan Jope steps down next year. His playbook is based on spinning off or selling divisions. 

He is the victor of battles at Cadbury Schweppes and Procter & Gamble.

Any others in the spotlight? 

The Anglo-Swedish fund Cevian Capital, which bought 6 per cent of Aviva in the summer of 2021, is demanding that the insurer increase returns to shareholders. 

This month the company, which has been slimmed down, pledged ‘regular and sustainable’ payouts. 

These dividends make Aviva an attractive buy, according to some analysts. 

Who is the most famous activist? 

The 86-year-old Carl Icahn gained notoriety in the 1980s as a corporate raider through campaigns at airline TWA and food group RJR Nabisco. 

The latter’s fall was chronicled in the book Barbarians At The Gate, which was turned into a film. In this century, Icahn has reinvented himself as a shareholder activist, promising that his target companies’ share prices would leap in the ‘Icahn lift’. 

Is following activists lucrative? 

Sometimes yes, sometimes no, which is irritating. Icahn’s current focus is Crown Holdings, a beverage can maker. Its shares are up 18 per cent since he appeared on the scene. Shares in Unilever have risen a little this year, but Aviva’s are down. 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk