CFO.com — Considering how much havoc activist hedge funds can wreak on the best-laid corporate plans and the careers of senior management, finance chiefs would do well to be on high alert when such investors gain power in their companies, industry experts suggest.
Indeed, the funds tend to be hugely effective juggernauts of change once they get rolling. Funds with hefty share holdings and a yen to shake up a company often get what they want, according to a study of 155 activist hedge fund campaigns conducted between 2003 and 2005 by April Klein, an associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and Emanuel Zur, a doctoral student who combed through forms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by activist hedge funds.
