Institutional investors ‘should confront failing chairs’ to fight private equity deals

Chief investment officer at Aviva Investors calls on institutional shareholders to hold leadership teams to account, and for boards to “defend themselves” against private equity acquisitions.

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Institutional shareholders have been called upon to replace failing chairs as part of an effort to counter companies being sold “too cheaply” to private equity investors.
According to David Cumming, chief investment officer for equities at Aviva Investors, institutional shareholders should be working harder to hold company leadership teams to account. He includes chairs, chief executives and finance chiefs in his commentary, arguing recent private equity (PE) activity can be viewed as a response to mismanagement of strategy.
Writing in The Sunday Times, Cumming called on boards and shareholders to fight acquisition efforts.
“If
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