Consumer Brands’ Corp. Gov. Challenges,
ESG and ‘Activism in Reverse’
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Gladstone Place Partners looked at the strategic and corporate governance challenges that consumer brands are facing amid both a pandemic and nationwide protests against racial inequality. GPP’s analysis was published in conjunction with the
Financial Times’
Due Diligence U.S. Forum titled
“How COVID-19 will change the food system.”
We looked at four key themes that food and beverage companies are focused on as they navigate through major changes facing the industry: direct-to-consumer strategies, product safety, worker rights and corporate stewardship.
In activism news, Jeff Ubben’s departure from ValueAct Capital reignited the discussion around whether activists are embracing ESG or just engaging in “activism in reverse” as
Bloomberg’s
Matt Levine put it. Ubben is officially leaving the $16 billion activist fund he launched in 2000 to form Inclusive Capital Partners and focus entirely on socially responsible investing. “Finance is, like, done,” he told the
Financial Times
. In other words, the many years active fund managers – including ValueAct – spent pushing for acquisitions, cost cuts and buybacks, are over. Consolidation has left every industry dominated by a handful of major players, Ubben noted, and that the right thing to do, from a society and investing standpoint, is to pursue socially responsible investing. Ubben has a track record in this space already. Whether or not other activists that are embracing ESG strategies feel more strongly about inflows and returns than social impact remains to be seen.
The newsletter will not publish next week due to the July 4 holiday. Stay safe, and we’ll return the following week.
Mike and Gabriella
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GPP: How Covid-19 Is Upending Consumer Brands And How They Are Responding
Gladstone Place analyzes the strategic and corporate governance challenges consumer brands face (The GPP piece appears on page 2)
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Financial Times: Jeff Ubben quits ValueAct for social investing
‘Elizabeth Warren is right,’ veteran activist investor tells FT
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Bloomberg Opinion: Money Stuff: Time to Do Activism in Reverse
Bloomberg Opinion's Matt Levine on Jeff Ubben's departure from ValueAct
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Bloomberg: Palantir Adds First Woman to Board Ahead of Stock Listing
Palantir Technologies Inc. is adding the first woman to its board ahead of a planned public stock listing. Alexandra Wolfe Schiff is the daughter of novelist Tom Wolfe and a former Wall Street Journal reporter
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Bloomberg: Citi’s Ray McGuire Rebukes Companies ‘Checking the Box’ on Diversity
Citigroup Inc. Vice Chairman Ray McGuire warned companies to avoid simply “checking the box” on diversity initiatives without making sure those efforts produced real change
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Reuters Breakingviews: Corporate America First
As Pepsi’s move to retire Aunt Jemima shows, corporations are grappling anew with America’s original sin. The soul-searching should lead them to their archives to quantify the role slavery or other forms of racism played on their income statements. It’s complicated but doable
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Reuters: Exclusive: After BP takes a hit, investors widen climate change campaign
Investors managing £1.8 trillion ($2.2 trillion) in assets are widening a campaign pressing oil majors to better reflect climate risks in their accounting, and will soon target other businesses with heavy fossil fuel exposure
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CNBC: Activist shareholders have been less aggressive during coronavirus pandemic but they will return: lawyer
Elizabeth Bieber of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer says activist shareholders have been more quiet during the coronavirus crisis. But she adds that activists are “simmering below the surface” and will likely return when they can
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Investment Week: Neuberger Berman appoints State Street analyst to lead stewardship efforts
Caitlin McSherry joins as director of investment stewardship from State Street Global Advisors
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Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: Coronavirus: 15 Emerging Themes for Boards and Executive Teams
Senior partners from McKinsey compiled personal insights and experiences from nonexecutive chairs and directors on how to manage through the crisis and resume work
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Oxford Answers: Stakeholder versus shareholder capitalism: The great debate
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Willkie’s Martin Sidel, CII's Ken Bertsch, Legion Partners’ Chris Kiper and Privet Fund’s Ben Rosenzweig will offer their thoughts on activism during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speakers include Leo Strine of WLRK, Maureen Farrell of the Wall Street Journal and BlackRock's Ray Cameron.
Speakers include Starboard's Jeff Smith, Corvex's Keith Meister, Elliott's Jesse Cohn and Impactive Capital's Lauren Taylor Wolfe.
A forum for people and organizations driven by a collective commitment to divergent thinking and sustainable solutions to some of the world's greatest needs. Bringing to the stage the best and most creative thought leadership, the conference includes insights that touch every sector, from developing markets to accelerating medical research.
The world’s largest and most comprehensive IR Event, with three days dedicated to your professional development and networking. With dozens of education offerings in a variety of new and exciting formats, there will be plenty of time to connect with your peers while meeting your goals and objectives.
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