Greg Lyons
Paul Rodel
Eric Juergens
Ben Strumeier


activism-4-8-16.pngFrom 2000 to 2014, activist hedge fund assets under management are reported to have swelled from less than $5 billion to nearly $140 billion. This sharp rise in assets under management is reflected in a 57 percent increase in activist campaign activity over the last five years. And while performance can vary greatly by fund, reports are that activist hedge funds have generally outperformed other alternative investment strategies in recent years. The upshot for the banking industry is clear: as more activist investors with more dry powder are looking for investment opportunities, activists have moved beyond the “low-hanging fruit” into regulated industries, including financial services, which had previously been considered too complex.

Banks historically were viewed as unlikely targets for activist investors. The burdens are significant on an investor deemed to “control” the bank (from a bank regulatory perspective). The investor must be concerned with an intrusive Change in Bank Control Act filing and fundamental changes may be mandated by the Bank Holding Company Act if the investor’s voting, director and activist activities result in it crossing often less than well-defined “control” thresholds. However, today’s activists have learned that even small holdings of a bank’s stock—for example less than 5 percent of voting stock—often suffice to generate the desired change and provide the desired return. Many activists thus have successfully achieved their objectives without triggering bank regulatory consequences.

As activist investors sharpen their focus on the banking sector, their criteria for which entities to target remain the same. Target companies generally share several key characteristics: underperforming (on a relative basis), broadly held ownership structures and/or easily exercisable shareholder rights. An underperforming business presents the potential for economic upside, while a dispersed ownership structure and easily exercisable shareholder rights provide access to the boardroom, or at least the ability to make demands. Activist stakes are often small as a percentage of overall capital and many activist campaigns rely on winning over institutional and other investors on measures to improve the performance of the business and, ultimately, the stock price. These measures can range from those intended to result in a sale of the bank, such as changing directors, to less disruptive, but nonetheless material changes, such as enhancing clawback features in executive compensation plans.

While no two activist campaigns are alike, activist engagement generally begins with a private approach to the board of directors or management. If the activist does not succeed in private conversations, more public disclosure of the activist’s campaign can take the form of public letters to the board of directors or management, public letters to stockholders, white papers laying out the activist proposal, or filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission related to ownership of the target’s stock. Finally, and at greater cost to the activist and target alike, activists can commence a proxy contest or litigation.

So how is a bank to know whether an activist has taken a position in its stock? For smaller, privately held banks, it is more important than ever to maintain close oversight of investor rolls. Publicly traded banks need to monitor Schedule 13D and Form 13F filings. An investor that accumulates beneficial ownership of more than 5 percent of a voting class of a company’s equity securities must file a Schedule 13D within 10 days. In an activist campaign, however, 10 days can represent a very long time and an activist can build up meaningful economic exposure through derivatives without triggering a Schedule 13D filing obligation. 13F filings are made quarterly by institutional investment managers. On the antitrust front, and likely more relevant to midsize and larger banks, an investor that intends to accumulate more than $78.2 million of a company’s equity securities must generally make a Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) filing with the Federal Trade Commission and notify the issuer of the securities. As with Schedule 13D filings, an activist can use derivative investments to avoid triggering an HSR filing. Given the limits of these regulatory filings, many publicly traded companies turn to proxy solicitors and other advisors who offer additional data analytics services to track a company’s shareholder base.

Boards must proactively prepare for such events. Any activist response plan will address a handful of key issues, including an assessment of the bank’s vulnerabilities, an analysis of the bank’s shareholder rights profile, engagement with shareholders on strategic priorities generally, identification of the proper team to respond to an activist approach, and ongoing analysis and monitoring of the shareholder base. No plan will address all potential activist approaches, but the planning exercise alone, done well in advance without pressures of an activist campaign, can position a bank to minimize exposure to activist pressures and to respond quickly, proactively and effectively to activist approaches.

Greg Lyons

Paul Rodel

Eric Juergens

Ben Strumeier