Insights
Read the latest investor-focused insights from our team on a broad range of topics ranging from activism to sustainability. Please note that we share our Insights only with companies, investors, and law firms.
A look at how the world's largest asset managers (collectively managing close to $60 trillion) approach ESG, engagement with companies and activist campaigns from hedge funds.
Institutional investment strategies in global markets are categorized increasingly in a binary fashion: active and passive. These terms reveal the underlying attributes of an investment to the market and to portfolio companies, including how a shareholder will manage its stake, and therefore how it is likely to engage with companies on important strategic matters.
In this memo, SquareWell Partners (“SquareWell”) looks to reframe the term Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”), which has recently become synonymous for sustainability, by putting the role of governance back in the the spotlight. Further to this, informed by our Investor Survey which includes responses from institutional investors representing approximately $25.2 trillion in assets under management, we deep-dive into important governance issues and analyse the “Environmental” and “Social” topics currently top of mind.
SquareWell Partners (“SquareWell”) analyzed activist campaigns at the largest companies globally from September 2019 to December 2021. The review focuses on those campaigns that escalated to challenge management proposals or the submission of shareholder proposals; campaigns that are yet to reach a public outcome, such as Elliott at GlaxoSmithKline (“GSK”) and Cevian at Aviva, did not form part of our analysis.
