• The Impact of New Trends in Asset Management and Investor Expectations
  • The Relationship between the CEO and an Activist Director

The keynote presentation at the 2017 Tulane Corporate Law Institute featured a discussion among

  • Gerald Hassell, Chair and CEO of Bank of New York Mellon;
  • Ed Garden, CIO and Founding Partner of Trian Partners; and
  • Ethan Klingsberg, partner in Cleary Gottlieb’s New York office.

The discussion focused on:

  • How new trends in asset management and investor expectations are impacting boards of publicly traded companies – a topic on which the participants had insights in view of Mr. Hassell’s  experience leading not only a publicly traded issuer with engaged investors but also a business that hosts a growing stable of passive-strategy funds as well as actively managed funds, and Mr. Garden’s experience with asset managers and boards through his roles as a high profile shareholder and board member of publicly traded companies on behalf of Trian.  A transcript of this portion of the discussion was published in the new issue of The M&A Journal that is available here; and
  • Bank of New York Mellon’s experience engaging with and managing its relationship with Trian and Mr. Garden – featuring perspectives from both sides of the relationship and offering guidance useful for directors and executives preparing for or in the midst of handling activism.  A transcript of this portion of the discussion was published in the new issue of The M&A Journal that is available here.