This work examines the shareholder activism of institutional investors, and the effect of this activism on portfolio performance. Institutional shareholder activism is defined to include both traditional mechanisms of influence (ie. filing shareholder proposals) and relationship investing. Institutional owners include private and public pension funds, mutual funds, bank trusts, insurance companies, endowments, and foundations. These institutional owners differ substantially, and these differences lead institutions to use their ownership power to pursue different philosophies and actions. Some...

First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.