“Broadly speaking, activism has been on the rise since the global financial crisis as part of the circular change on how the wider investment world views its role in managing companies. There has been a view that the board may manage the company, but shareholders have a greater role to play in overseeing the board,” says Josh Black, editor-in-chief of Activist Insight, a publication based in New York and London.
SINGAPORE (Sept 17): Shareholder activism has been on the rise in Asia since the 2008 global financial crisis, due in part to the greater push for good corporate governance and the protection of minority shareholders. This tide of activism brings with it various implications for investors, ranging from share price movements to corporate governance reforms.
Last year, four of the 10 most targeted countries (excluding the US) by activist investors were in this region, where campaign volume has seen a compound annual growth rate of 48% since 2011, according to a JP Morgan report in May. Activist assets managed by hedge funds reached a record US$125.6 billion ($172.4 billion) last December, up 4% from 2016. Also, the number of international campaigns exceeded those in the US for the first time.
