August 15, 2019
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August 5, 2019
Shareholder Activism in M&A Is on the Rise. Here Are 5 Things Companies Must Keep in Mind
Echoing increasing shareholder activism worldwide, a rising trend in global markets this year has been activist campaigns with an M&A thesis. New campaigns in the first half of 2019 are fewer relative to the same period last year, according to a report by Lazard. But the financial advisory firm notes that close to half of those campaigns were M&A-driven, showing that activist investors guide such deals more and more.
July 18, 2019
Central Banks Around the World Go Dovish as Fed Signals Rate Cuts
As global recession concerns mount, Central Banks around the world are going the way of the dove. Their actions aim to bolster a faltering economy in their home turf and worldwide, much like they have done in the past. All eyes this month are on the US Federal Reserve, or Fed, which has all but confirmed it will cut rates at the end of this month.
July 11, 2019
What This Activist Investor Who Was Feared Throughout Japan Can Teach About Positive Change
Yoshiaki Murakami’s name used to strike fear in boardrooms throughout Japan – at least until a fall from grace in 2007. His reappearance and renaissance in recent years signifies a shift in how corporates are dealing with shareholder activists. A former government employee, Murakami decided to set up his own fund in 1999.
July 3, 2019
Self-reflection and Change from Within for the Investment Research Industry: the Real Impact of MiFID II
When the European Union enacted MiFID II, the aim was to increase transparency and accountability in an opaque, aging market. The theory was that larger investment banks would stop bundling research fees together with financial service charges. Investment research would be free of resulting conflicts, like Investment Bank A pushing positive research on company B because A is in business with B.
June 27, 2019
5 Takeaways from Slack’s Direct Listing
Slack is the latest tech hopeful foraying into the public markets through a direct listing. It comes hot on the heels of famous names like Uber and Lyft and not-so-famous like Crowdstrike and Chewy. Software companies command a huge part of the market’s interest, and Slack is no exception.
June 20, 2019
How Pension and Wealth Funds Redefine Shareholder Activism Worldwide
Shareholder activism can take many shapes. The concept is mostly associated with go-getter investors like Carl Icahn, storming into a company’s board demanding change or ousting ineffective CEOs.
May 30, 2019
In Hot Coffee: Where the Luckin Coffee IPO Went Wrong
China’s great Starbucks rival, Luckin Coffee, hit on the nerves of a lot of investors last week – and the coffee wasn’t to blame. A precipitous share price drop of 39 percent from its previous peak seems to have dampened the market’s thirst for java. But it wasn’t always this way.A few weeks ago, Luckin’s story was one of promise and potential: a young upstart brewing a revolution against multinational coffee overlord Starbucks.
May 23, 2019
Exchanges Redefine Their Role as More Than Just Listing Boards
Choosing an exchange on which to list might be one of the most important decisions a company will ever make.The reasons underpinning this may vary from one company to another but some common denominators remain. Among them, metrics like Average Daily Trading Volume, which serve as a reliable indicator of market liquidity.Liquid boards make it easy to buy and sell securities. As such, they tend to carry greater investor appeal. This might explain, at least in part, why some companies choose to list on foreign exchanges instead of those in their home markets.
May 16, 2019
IROs Often Wait Until Earnings Season to Engage Investors. They Shouldn’t
News headlines like “Company X Beats Analyst Estimates in Full-Year Earnings Report” and “Shares of Company Y Plunge on Biggest Loss in Decade” are not rare to see during earnings season. They typically have the power to move markets, sending share prices of the companies in question climbing or plummeting. In light of what’s at stake, it’s perfectly understandable that most, if not all, investor relations officers (IROs) spend an inordinate amount of time preparing for an earnings event.
