With activist hedge funds stirring up drama in boardrooms from the New York Times Co. to Motorola, we thought it timely to scan the just-released findings and recommendations of the Conference Board’s Working Group on Hedge Fund Activism. Full disclosure: We were co-chairs of the group. That being said, the fact remains that what hedge funds are doing these days, and how they operate, is of considerable interest to many people.
The report itself involved some 38 investors, corporate executives, hedge fund managers, academics, regulators, proxy advisers, credit agencies, proxy solicitors, and others scrutinizing how hedge fund activism is challenging, and ...