“Investors want to see proactive engagement. This includes the adoption of policies, rather than waiting for shareholders to request – either directly to the company or through shareholder proposals – that companies adopt them.”
“I’ve long admired Okapi Partners for being instrumental in helping clients achieve their goals” said Ms. Higgins. “Okapi has been at the forefront of corporate governance and shareholder activism for the past several years, and its people have developed respect in the field for their collaborative work with both clients and their advisors. I’m honored to be joining their team.”
Goldfarb says institutional investors will typically still engage directly with both sides before making a decision. “Investors evaluate the message from both sides, review the track record of the activist and its nominees, as well as the board’s nominees, frequently consider research from proxy voting advisors and sell side analysts and ultimately support the side that the investor believes will create value for its investment in the company,” Goldfarb writes.
“Whether we are working for a public company on its annual meeting, an M&A campaign or engagement outreach, or advising an activist investor, understanding a company’s constantly changing shareholder composition is integral to the success of any voting campaign,” [Goldfarb] says.
“Based on listening to the needs of many clients and advisers, we realized that it would be beneficial for Okapi Partners to provide stock surveillance in-house,” said Goldfarb. “With Okapi Market Intelligence Group, we can provide our clients access to what stock surveillance’s services can offer but also enhance it with the work that we do and our experiences with a company and its shareholders.”
“Investor monitoring and market intelligence have always been part of Okapi Partners’ services to clients, but we are now formalizing this offering under Okapi Market Intelligence Group and adding Walt’s analytical expertise and keen eye for determining changes in share ownership,” said Bruce H. Goldfarb, President and CEO of Okapi Partners.
For the second year running, Activist Insight has named Okapi Partners as the proxy solicitor that worked on the most activist campaigns. Here president and CEO Bruce Goldfarb shares his predictions for 2018.
“This year we executed campaigns against larger targets and in defense of companies by utilizing new and innovative tools to communicate with shareholders for the benefit of our clients,” said Bruce H. Goldfarb, President and CEO of Okapi Partners. “As we always have, our team stepped up to the plate in our busiest year ever and delivered the highest quality counsel and execution our clients have come to expect.”
Activist Insight named Okapi Partners the #1 proxy firm in their December 2017 issue. Read the excerpt here.
Goldfarb said he would not be surprised if the final IVS number is different than what was presented on Wednesday, adding that there usually are some votes that are subject to change but that they typically are immaterial to the final outcome.
However, in this case, even small votes are not unimportant, and error associated with a small individual shareholder with 43,000 shares could swing the election in favor of P&G’s incumbent director. “The difference in the tally could be one voter,” he said.