Asset managers are ready to listen to activists

Asset managers are no longer biased towards activists. They listen to them particularly in case of poor corporate governance. The day after the publication of Morrow Sodali Institutional Investor Survey results' publication, Louis Barbier, Director France at Morrow Sodali, commented the main highlights on Les Echos.

"Until not long ago, asset managers used to ignore activists and in their voting policies they sometimes even voted against every resolution filed by an independent investor. This is a bygone era. On the contrary, today, every activist campaign is looked at with attention by institutional investors who acknowledge the work and the researches behind it."

This trend clearly emerged from the Institutional Investor Survey in which 57% of the investors claimed they will listen to activists if approached and the remaining 43% said they will listen to activists reaching out to them to better understand their claims.