The Activism Vulnerability Report
Introduction Activism industry headlines are deceptive; this quarter has been quieter than it appears. Despite several campaigns involving very high-profile companies receiving most of the media coverage, shareholder activism in the United States has been relatively quiet through the first five months of 2024. Increased valuations driven by strong U.S. equity markets last year, as […]
Jason Frankl and Brian G. Kushner are Senior Managing Directors and Kurt Moeller is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting. This post is based on a FTI Consulting memorandum by Mr. Frankl, Mr. Kushner, Mr. Moeller, Tom Kim, and Ryan Chiang.
Introduction
Activism industry headlines are deceptive; this quarter has been quieter than it appears. Despite several campaigns involving very high-profile companies receiving most of the media coverage, shareholder activism in the United States has been relatively quiet through the first five months of 2024. Increased valuations driven by strong U.S. equity markets last year, as shown by the S&P 500’s 26.3% total return, likely decreased the number of companies that activists found appealing.[1] Activists have gained 86 board seats year-to-date through May 31, similar to recent prior years.[2] Overall campaigns were down to a total of 123 relative to 139 in 1Q23, and relatively few campaigns resulted in full-scale proxy contests – fewer than 5% of total campaigns.[3]
