Extreme Value Hedging: How Activist Hedge Fund Managers Are Taking on the World

ISBN-13: 9780470450246 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 400 str.

Ronald D. Orol

Opis

Activist hedge fund managers represent a small part of the $1.5 trillion hedge fund industry, but their approach is causing a stir among traditional managers and the investment community because they are shaking up the corporate establishment and making money for their investors. These types of managers are here to stay and Extreme Value Hedging tells the story of their rise to power in the U.S. and how they are spreading their influential gospel around the globe to places like China, Ukraine, South Korea and Sweden. Author Ronald D. Orol has a unique understanding of this world and through this book he shares his unparalleled insights in an easy to comprehend manner. He discusses everything from activist investor efforts to breakup the clubby insider world of corporate boardrooms to their deal-making or breaking pressure tactics and courtroom battles. Orol skillfully makes his case for each subject by offering revelations and examples from insiders like Ralph Whitworth, (Relational Investors), Guy Wyser-Pratte, (Wyser-Pratte Management), Mark Schwarz, (Newcastle Capital Group LLC), Robert Chapman (Chapman Capital), Phillip Goldstein (Opportunity Partners), Jeffrey Ubben (ValueAct Capital), Jeffrey M. Solomon (Ramius Capital Group LLC), Michael Van Biema (Van Biema Value Partners), Eric Rosenfeld (Crescendo Partners), Lars Forberg (Cevian Capital) and Emanuel Pearlman (Liberation Investment Group), among many, many others.

Spis treści

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xxi

Part One: From Raiders to Activists and Everything in Between 1

Chapter 1: Growth of Activism and Why Corporate Raiders Aren t Around Anymore 3

Chapter 2: Nuts and Bolts: How Activists Became Who They Are Today 25

Chapter 3: The Pack: How Activists Are Working Together (But Not Offi cially) 53

Chapter 4: How Activists Use Litigation to Pursue Their Agenda 75

Chapter 5: Why Activists Target Certain Corporations and Leave Others Alone 89

Chapter 6: Overperked and Overpaid: The Impact of Activists on Executive Compensation 103

Chapter 7: Hedge Specialization: Good or Bad? 117

Chapter 8: Regulation and Activists: How the Securities and Exchange Commission Helps (or Hurts) Activists 135

Part Two: Institutional Investors and Activists 155

Chapter 9: Institutional Investors on Activist Hedge Funds: Love′em or Hate′em? 157

Chapter 10: Activists Taking on Large Corporations Must Have Institutional Support 163

Chapter 11: Institutions and Activist Hedge Funds: Breaking Up Deals Together Around the World 173

Chapter 12: Just Vote No and No and No Again 181

Chapter 13: Institutions Changing Corporate Bylaws so Activist Hedge Funds Can Get Down to Business 191

Chapter 14: Can t Be Them? Then Fund Them 201

Chapter 15: Institutions Behaving Like Activist Hedge Fund Managers 209

Part Three: Activism 2.0 217

Chapter 16: Technology, Communications, and Activists: Gary Lutin, Eric Jackson, and Anne Faulk 219

Chapter 17: When Is an Activist Fund Really a Private Equity Fund, and What s the Difference? 231

Chapter 18: Funds of Hedge Funds Stake Out Activists 247

Chapter 19: Distressed Investing: How Activist Managers Buy Debt and Provoke Companies 263

Chapter 20: Hedge Activists in Western Europe, Asia, and Canada 271

Chapter 21: East Meets West: Hedge Activism Goes Global to Emerging Markets 299

Chapter 22: Value Investing versus Activism: Which One Is Better? 319

Conclusion: Saturation or No Saturation? 333

Notes 339

About the Author 361

Index 363

O autorze

RONALD D. OROL is a financial reporter for MarketWatch, where he reports on hedge funds, banking regulation, and also the Securities and Exchange Commission. Prior to MarketWatch, Orol spent seven years as a senior writer for The Deal and The Daily Deal, covering the activist hedge fund industry as well as other topics. He is also a commentator on BBC World Television, CNBC TV, CTV, and National Public Radio. In addition, Orol regularly organizes and moderates panels on hedge funds and banking regulation. Prior to his work at The Deal, he was a reporter with Dow Jones Newswires and the Washington correspondent at the Providence Journal. Before moving to Washington, Orol spent three years as a business and finance reporter for the Prague Post in the Czech Republic. While in Prague, he also reported for Southam Newspapers, the Montreal Gazette, and the Toronto Star on Eastern European privatization and the political transformation of the region. Orol earned his bachelor of journalism honors degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, and received a business and economics journalism master′s degree from Boston University, where he graduated with distinction.

Blurb

PRAISE FOR EXTREME VALUE HEDGING

"An intelligent, well–researched, and very useful book. Experts and laymen alike will find it eye–opening."
JEFFREY H. BIRNBAUM, The Washington Post

"Love them or hate them, activist hedge funds are having a significant impact on the American and global corporate economies. Ron Orol′s detailed and thoughtful book is required reading for anybody who wants to understand what these funds are, how they work, and the various good and bad effects they can have on corporate performance."
LAWRENCE E. MITCHELL, Theodore Rinehart Professor of Business Law at George Washington University, author of The Speculation Economy

"Provides breadth, insight, and a worldwide perspective on one of our most dramatic capital market developments the rise of the activist hedge fund. The book is essential reading for those who want to understand the current economic scene."
HARVEY J. GOLDSCHMID, Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, former SEC Commissioner (2002–05)

"Ron Orol′s deep network of contacts and his insight into shareholder activism make this book a must for anyone seeking to understand these enfants terribles of the capital markets."
BOYD ERMAN, Capital Markets Reporter, The Globe and Mail

"A fascinating read on the David and Goliath interaction between a small group of activist investors and corporations of all sizes worldwide. Orol spares no details as he unlocks the secrets of how activist shareholders create dramatic change in today′s global investment marketplace."
JAMES G. TOMPKINS, PhD, Director of Board Advisory Services, Corporate Governance Center,Kennesaw State University