Off the map

Shareholder activists had a record year in 2025, launching 255 campaigns, according to research from consultancy firm FCLTGlobal.

Why so many? FCLT says it is because 71% of companies targeted by activists lacked a “credible long-term roadmap”. It was also found that 55% of boards failed to spend enough time on strategic issues.

FCLT concludes: “The lesson for boards and management teams is to close these strategic gaps before they become pressure points: to articulate a credible multi-year roadmap, to devote board time to the strategic questions that matter and to earn the trust of long-term investors as a result.”

Failure and trust

Scandal-hit KPMG Australia has decided to cut nearly 400 jobs.

Reuters reports that chief executive, John Sams, said the firm faces “challenges created by our own failings and the work we must continue to do to rebuild trust”.

Keen observers of audit scandals will know KPMG got itself into trouble when a whistleblower came forward in March to reveal the Big Four audit provider used inside information to win “lucrative” contracts.

KPMG has been forced to agree not to bid for any federal government work until the end of September.

Reuters says overall revenue for KPMG has slipped only 1% in the year to June, though its consulting business has taken a 17% body blow. The firm and its partners will be hoping for short memories all round to try to get back to normal.

Troubles in audit

Someone in the US really doesn’t like investors. This week, the Financial Times tells us that even Washington’s audit watchdog, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), will do away with its investor advocate’s office—the department that listens to investors’ views about accounting issues.

The FT quotes former Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant Lynn Turner as saying: “The trouble is it won’t have an advocate for investors inside its four walls.”

Which is kind of interesting—because who do companies produce accounts for if not for investors?