The Evolution of Hedge Fund Activism: From Corporate Raiders to Sustainability Crusaders?
type: CreativeWork
description: The prevailing rhetoric associated with hedge fund activism is almost universally negative. This thesis provides new evidence of activist hedge fund behavior that contradicts this dominant narrative. The principal idea underpinning the thesis is that the conventional picture of hedge fund activism requires updating to account for two key recent phenomena: activist board representation and environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) activism. The thesis makes at least four important contributions to academic and policy debates on hedge fund activism. First, through analyzing original hand-collected data on activist hedge fund campaigns, it demonstrates that a relatively new form of activism – activist board representation – tends to involve a longer-term approach to value creation through strategic and operational changes, rather than the short term financial engineering that activist hedge funds are commonly criticized for engaging in. Second, it builds upon the study of activist board representation campaigns to argue that activist hedge funds may be well positioned to play a unique role in ESG activism by nominating specialist climate directors to corporate boards. Third, it outlines how the phenomenon of activist board representation exposes the deficiencies of the independent monitoring board and provides suggestions for potential corporate governance improvements. Finally, it theorizes the incentives behind ESG hedge fund activism, thus providing early insights into this rapidly evolving practice. The thesis is structured as follows: Part I (Chapters 1 and 2) situates hedge fund activism and the role of the board in traditional and contemporary corporate governance debates. Chapter 1 examines the intellectual foundations underpinning the monitoring board as a response to the shareholder-manager agency problem and challenges its continued dominance in light of pressing societal challenges facing corporations. Chapter 2 critiques the narrative of short-termism …
abstract: The prevailing rhetoric associated with hedge fund activism is almost universally negative. This thesis provides new evidence of activist hedge fund behavior that contradicts this dominant narrative. The principal idea underpinning the thesis is that the conventional picture of hedge fund activism requires updating to account for two key recent phenomena: activist board representation and environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) activism. The thesis makes at least four important contributions to academic and policy debates on hedge fund activism. First, through analyzing original hand-collected data on activist hedge fund campaigns, it demonstrates that a relatively new form of activism – activist board representation – tends to involve a longer-term approach to value creation through strategic and operational changes, rather than the short term financial engineering that activist hedge funds are commonly criticized for engaging in. Second, it builds upon the study of activist board representation campaigns to argue that activist hedge funds may be well positioned to play a unique role in ESG activism by nominating specialist climate directors to corporate boards. Third, it outlines how the phenomenon of activist board representation exposes the deficiencies of the independent monitoring board and provides suggestions for potential corporate governance improvements. Finally, it theorizes the incentives behind ESG hedge fund activism, thus providing early insights into this rapidly evolving practice. The thesis is structured as follows: Part I (Chapters 1 and 2) situates hedge fund activism and the role of the board in traditional and contemporary corporate governance debates. Chapter 1 examines the intellectual foundations underpinning the monitoring board as a response to the shareholder-manager agency problem and challenges its continued dominance in light of pressing societal challenges facing corporations. Chapter 2 critiques the narrative of short-termism …
author: Christie, Anna
language: eng
keywords: Corporate governance, Hedge fund activism, Law and finance, Shareholder activism, Sustainability
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/186e9dc9-2c76-4349-9f41-3a66b9211234/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2023-01-31
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:30Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.104350