Picking Friends Before Picking (Proxy) Fights: How Mutual Fund Voting Shapes Proxy Contests.

97 Pages Posted: 17 Jan 2018 Last revised: 9 Jan 2023

See all articles by Alon Brav

Alon Brav

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Wei Jiang

Emory University Goizueta Business School; ECGI; NBER

Tao Li

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration

James Pinnington

Duke University- Fuqua School of Business

Date Written: November 1, 2020

Abstract

This paper provides the first comprehensive study of mutual fund voting in proxy contests. Funds tend to vote against incumbent management at firms with weak operating and financial performance, and in favor of dissidents with credible track records. Passive funds are active monitors although they are more supportive of incumbent management than active funds. We document a positive selection effect: dissidents are more likely to initiate contests and proceed to voting when shareholders are expected to be more supportive based on observable and unobservable event characteristics as well as inherent pro-activist investor stance. Overall, institutional investors play a pivotal role in shaping the initiation and outcomes of proxy contests.

Keywords: Mutual fund voting, proxy contest, selective targeting, investor stance

JEL Classification: G320, G340, G380

Suggested Citation

Brav, Alon and Jiang, Wei and Li, Tao and Pinnington, James, Picking Friends Before Picking (Proxy) Fights: How Mutual Fund Voting Shapes Proxy Contests. (November 1, 2020). Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 18-16, European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) - Finance Working Paper No. 601/2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3101473 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3101473

Alon Brav

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Wei Jiang

Emory University Goizueta Business School ( email )

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ECGI ( email )

c/o the Royal Academies of Belgium
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Belgium

NBER ( email )

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Tao Li (Contact Author)

University of Florida - Warrington College of Business Administration ( email )

308 Stuzin Hall
Gainesville, FL 32601
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://site.warrington.ufl.edu/tao-li/

James Pinnington

Duke University- Fuqua School of Business ( email )

Durham, NC
United States

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