The Conference Board

 


About The Conference Board Working Group on Hedge Fund Activism

The Conference Board Working Group on hedge fund activism was established in May 2007 and brings together major institutional investors, public companies at the forefront of corporate governance developments, financial service providers, legal experts and business associations. The Working Group is co-chaired by Stephen Davis and Jon Lukomnik.

The Conference Board Working Group recommendations focus on these major areas:

  1. What corporations can do to better monitor securities holdings and learn about those accumulations of stock or extraordinary trading patterns that may reveal a hedge fund's activism tactic.
  2. What measures corporations can adopt to avoid becoming a target.
  3. How boards and senior executives can react to an activism campaign and what they should respond to requests for change made by hedge funds.
  4. How companies and large institutional investors can ensure integrity of the voting process in those situations where hedge funds borrow shares for the sole purpose of influencing a shareholders' vote; and
  5. What considerations institutional investors should be mindful of when allocating some of their assets to hedge funds pursuing activism strategies.

What follows is the complete list of Working Group members:

Alcoa, Inc.
Donna C. Dabney, Corporate Secretary & Corporate Governance Counsel

The Altman Group
Ken Altman, President

American Express Company
Stephen P. Norman, Secretary & Corporate Governance Officer
Carol Schwartz, Senior Assistant Secretary

APCO Worldwide
Jeff Zelkowitz, Senior Vice President

Applebee's International, Inc.
Carol DiRaimo, Vice President of Investor Relations

Barclays Global Investors
Abe Friedman, Director of Corporate Governance

Bulldog Investors
Philip Goldstein, Founder

The Conference Board, Inc.
Carolyn K. Brancato, Director, Governance Center; Matteo Tonello, Senior Research Associate, Governance Center

Dade Behring Holdings, Inc.
Louise Pearson, Chief Compliance Officer

DLA Piper
Ted Altman, Partner

Florida State Board of Administration
Michael McCauley, Director of Corporate Governance
Tracy Stewart, Senior Corporate Governance Analyst

Freddie Mac
Luise Welby, Associate General Counsel

Global Advisors, Inc.
Stephen Davis, President

Icahn Associates Corporation
Keith Schaitkin, Associate General Counsel

Infovest21
Lois Peltz, President

RiskMetrics Group, Inc. (formerly Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc.)
Patrick McGurn, Senior VP and Special Counsel

Jones Day
Richard H. Koppes, Of Counsel

Managed Funds Association
Lisa S. McGreevy, Executive Vice President and COO

McGuire Woods, LLP
Robert L. Burrus, Jr., Partner

Moody's Investors Service
Francis H. Byrd, Former Vice President, Corporate Governance

National Investor Relations Institute
Linda Y. Kelleher, Executive Vice President

OneCapital Management Partners, LLC
Reid Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer

Pfizer, Inc.
Margaret (Peggy) Foran, Vice President of Corporate Governance & Secretary
Rosemary Kenney, Director, Corporate Governance

Sinclair Capital
Jon Lukomnik, Managing Partner

Spencer Stuart
Julie H. Daum, Senior Director
Julie Norris, Board Services Specialist

Standard & Poor's
Dan Konigsburg, Director, Corporate Governance

TIAA-CREF
John Wilcox, Former Senior VP and Head of Corporate Governance

Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP
Ira M. Millstein, Senior Partner
Catherine T. Dixon, Partner
Holly Gregory, Partner