ESG Campaigns Seen Falling Out of Favor With Activist Investors (2024)

Activist investors are expected to carry out fewer environmental and social campaigns this year after the strategy proved less lucrative than other shareholder agendas, according to business consulting firm <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbHref":"bbg://securities/592998Z%20US%20Equity","_id":"0000018c-eba1-d3fa-abbe-fbfb421b0000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">Alvarez & Marsal Inc.-bsp-bb-link>

An analysis by the firm found that activist campaigns focused on operational or strategic change outperformed the market by an average of 9.4% over the past six years. By contrast, campaigns focused on environmental and social issues saw the weakest relative returns, outperforming the market by just 0.2% on average for the same period, according to a report published on Tuesday.

“As investors focus more firmly ...