Rising Activism And Board Readiness

During the 2023 proxy season, investors set a new global record for shareholder activism, with no fewer than 69 shareholder activist campaigns taking place in Canada alone—double the number of campaigns in 2022. Facilitated by Canada being a relatively "activist-friendly" jurisdiction, this activist surge is characterized by the following trends.

A shift in approach for institutional investors

Though boards and management have historically often been able to rely on institutional investors for support against activists, recent trends indicate that such dynamics are now less certain. Institutional investors are increasingly developing their own proxy voting policies and standards for holding boards to account. A trend driven in part by the preferences of their underlying investors and stakeholders, institutional investors and other global fund managers are showing a growing propensity to support activist shareholder campaigns and are addressing long-established