Guest lecture by Professor Hannes Wagner, Bocconi University, Milan. Topic: "Does Hedge Fund Activism Add Value? - Global Evidence"
Professor Wagner will present his paper providing evidence that returns to hedge fund activism are driven by engagement outcomes.
In the paper a sample of 1740 activist engagements from 23 countries over 11 years are used to estimate the performance of activism across North America, Europe and Asia. Striking differences emerge across countries in terms of outcomes of the engagements, both incidence and type of outcomes, and it is these differences that explain the variation in performance of activism. Although there is evidence that activists put companies into play, frequently those takeovers are preceded by significant and profitable governance changes. Foreign activists mimic the U.S. model of activism and outperform U.S. activists in their domestic markets.