Welcome! - What Is 8% Value Activist About?

"We take the traditional value investor's process and just flip it around a little bit." - David Einhorn

This post is updated in Mar 2026.

👋 Welcome! This substack shares interesting activist stock ideas.

✳️ Activist investors buy value stocks and actively catalyze transformation in their investee companies to create value to boost their share prices.

🎇 Whether you’re just getting started or looking to fine-tune your investment strategy, we believe we can offer you value!

📋 We publish regular lists on activists’ stocks, updates and screens:

1. Our most popular Japan Activist Stock List (regularly updated)

2. Activist updates via Activist Happenings Series (nine so far)

3. Our recent Prominent Global Activist Stock List (regularly updated)

🦾 We have also discussed 30+ activist names and free cashflow (FCF) compounders (below). For your convenience, the published ideas below are in reverse chronological order:

- Our substack pivoted to activist stock ideas at Investment Idea #25 although many past ideas turned out to have or had activist involvement.

- Bonus Ideas: Interesting ideas that were discussed but not in the live portfolio.

- ($): For paid subscribers but since we paused subscriptions, we will make all the posts free over time.

1. Investment Idea #32 - Japan Exchange (JPX) : Japan’s biggest cheerleader for activists. Share price has under-performed the market despite Nikkei surpassing 50,000. We believe this is an interesting investment opportunity.

2. Investment Idea #31 ($): Currently undisclosed Japan’s small cap activist name operating the #1 restaurant platform currently being engaged by multiple activists.

3. Investment Idea #30 - Swatch ($): Initiation post on this activist stock engaged by Steven Wood of GreenWood Investors, trading as net net (current assets minus current liabilities < market cap) with c.5% free cashflow yield.

4. Investment Idea #29 - S&P Global ($): Interesting free cashflow (FCF) compounder that also benefits peripherally from activism while riding the benefits of QE and trend towards index investing.

5. Investment Idea #28 - GLUX (ETF) ($): Luxury ETF as an idea to source for more activist stocks in the sector since Swatch and Diageo are both targeted.

6. Bonus Idea #5 - United Overseas Insurance (UOI) : Affiliated insurer of United Overseas Banking Group. Singapore’s own activist play.

7. Investment Idea #27 - Nippon TV ($): One of Japan’s top 5 broadcaster which owns c.40% of Studio Ghibli, Japan’s answer to Pixar. Nippon TV is being targeted by activist alongside its peers Fuji Media and TBS.

8. Investment Idea #26 - Mandom : Japan’s top men’s personal care product manufacturing strong in hair styling targeted by multiple activists. Management announced MBO with CVC Capital in Sep 2025. (Up c.60% and divested in Sep 2025)

9. Investment Idea #25 - Okamoto ($): Japan’s largest condom maker which is severely undervalued. Its competitor Sagami has been targeted by Hong Kong based activist Oasis.

10. Investment Idea #24 - QYLP ETF ($): Covered call ETF to bet on Nasdaq while providing diversification for the portfolio.

11. Bonus Idea #4 - SAP ($): Germany’s largest software company targeted by Elliott in 2019. This company is also a fabulous FCF compounder as the mission critical software for the world’s supply chain. Ozeco also wrote about SAP.

12. Investment Idea #23 - Datadog ($): Upcoming SAAS data platform specializing in observability and security services for cloud-scale applications. While not an activist name, this company is a FCF growth compounder.

13. Investment Idea #22 - Adobe ($): World’s largest creative and office support software company with iconic products like Photoshop and Acrobat. While not targeted by activist today, Adobe was one of ValueAct’s investee companies.

14. Bonus Idea #3 - Tokyo Electron ($): Japan’s strong FCF compounder and largest semiconductor play. While not targeted by activist itself, its parent company TBS, one of Japan’s TV broadcaster is. This stock is not in the portfolio.

15. Bonus Idea #2 - Sumitomo Corp ($): One of Japan’s largest trading conglomerate targeted by Elliott. Not a portfolio idea but could well become one should share price correct to near Elliott’s entry price at c.JPY3,000.

16. Investment Idea #21 - Verisign ($): Internet's infrastructure provider, known for its domain name registry and network security services. Not an activist name but a strong FCF compounder which has generated c.50% return for the portfolio.

17. Investment Idea #20 - SBS Transit ($): Singapore’s largest bus operator and second largest train operator under the taxi ComfortDelgro group. Not an activist name but consistent FCF generator with dividend yield of c.6%. (Up c.30% and divested)

18. Investment Idea #19 - Deutsche Borse ($): Europe’s largest exchange operator. While there are currently no activist in this name, the company was targeted by the Children's Investment Fund (TCI) and Atticus Capital in 2005.

19. Investment Idea #18 - McCormick ($): US’ largest spice and food ingredient maker and Dividend Aristocrat. Not an activist name but consistent FCF generator. A Dividend Aristocrat is a company in the S&P500 that has paid and increased its dividends consecutively for at least 25 years.

20. Investment Idea #17 - Reckitt : UK’s household name in OTC drugs, sanitizing & cleaning goods and condom maker currently being engaged by activist Eminence Capital as stock has underperformed.

21. Investment Idea #16 - Fortinet ($): One of the top cybersecurity play listed in the US and founded by Chinese brothers Ken and Michael Xie. ValueAct engaged Trend Micro, another Asian / Taiwanese cybersecurity name.

22. Bonus Idea #1 - Socionext ($) : Interesting semiconductor idea which became a profitable trade and inspired another Bonus Idea above. Not an activist name.

23. Investment Idea #15 - Diageo : World’s second largest luxury alcohol producer after China’s Moutai. Recently Terry Smith of Fundsmith Equity Fund engaged Diageo. Elliott has also targeted Diageo’s rival Pernod Ricard.

24. Investment Idea #14 - Physical Gold : Follow-up investment idea after Singapore T-bills. Gold has contributed greatly to portfolio’s performance. (Up c.100%)

25. Investment Idea #13 - IMAX ($): Dominant hi-definition film technology provider. Not an activist but strong FCF name.

26. Investment Idea #12 - Thai Beverage ($): Thailand’s largest spirits and beer maker undergoing succession. Not an activist name but could potentially be one if stock continues to underperform.

27. Investment Idea #11 - Bayer ($): Germany’s largest crop science, pharmaceutical and chemical conglomerate. Inclusive Capital, activist fund started by ex-ValueAct’s founder has pushed for a breakup. Stock is still undervalued.

28. Investment Idea #10 - Live Nation ($): World’s largest live event operator. Not an activist idea but super interesting name which has done really well. Good FCF generator under John Malone’s Liberty Group.

29. Investment Idea #9 - Activision Blizzard : Strong FCF generator as one of the most successful gaming company. Our portfolio made c.20% return when Microsoft took the company private shortly after the idea was published.

30. Investment Idea #8 - BHP ($): World’s largest commodity producer. Previously Elliott engaged BHP in 2017 but no activist currently owns BHP. Stock is still undervalued.

31. Investment Idea #7 - Roche ($): Not an activist name but an interesting Swiss pharmaceutical stock that this substacker knows well having followed the name for close to a decade. Strong FCF generator.

32. Investment Idea #6 - Pepsico ($): Potential activist name recently engaged by Elliott. Elliot’s deck proposed an overhaul of its US business. In the past, Trian got involved c.2013-14. Stock is still undervalued.

33. Investment Idea #5 - SGX ($): Not an activist name. Exchanges as monopolies are good businesses. Portfolio has since divested this name at c.40% profit.

34. Investment Idea #4 - Vicom : Singapore’s top vehicle tester under the taxi operator ComfortDelgro group. Not an activist name but Singapore’s own FCF name. Stock has been flat although dividend is stable at c.4% currently.

35. Investment Idea #3 - Alphabet / Google ($): Children’s Investment Fund invested in Google around the time this post was published. Stock is up > 100% as of this writing.

36. Investment Idea #2 - Warner Bros Discovery : Strong IP content media play under John Malone’s Liberty Group. Potential activist name as Disney is being targeted, stock made c.50% return with the portfolio average buys. (Up >100% and in the process of merging with Paramount Skydance)

37. Investment Idea #1 - Singapore T-bills : First investment idea but no longer attractive as interested dropped from 3% back then to 1.8% as of July 2025.

✅ We also share general activist insights, portfolio management strategies, interesting investment knowledge and financial basics.

✅ Our journey started a long time ago, in another blogosphere far, far away.

✅ We discussed many investment related topics, stocks, property, investment strategies, thoughts since then and received c.2.5m views.

Our pivot to write research about activist stocks and FCF compounders

🌎 In 2025, we pivoted to talk about activist stocks i.e. stocks owned by diligent, smart, activist fund managers who have made good money for their investors.

🌐 From 2022 to 2025, we have also covered a couple of free cashflow compounders. We will still discuss these because activism and free cashflow goes together.

💹 Shareholder activism is coming to Asia and Japan, because there are too many undervalued names. Even though everyone’s focused on US and its exceptionalism today, value is in Asia.

📈 As of 2026, roughly half of Asia’s listed stocks trade below book*. 40% of all listed companies in Japan trade below book.

*More like a gut-feel, haven’t seen enough data to substantiate this. What is factually confirmed is that about 50% of both Japan and Singapore trades below book.

🇯🇵 Japan has 1,500 stocks trading below their net asset values. Isn’t this crazy? As such, we thought it’s timely to have a substack focusing on activism in Asia and Japan, although we will also study global activist names.

This post hopes to answer the following questions and by the end of it, we invite you to join us as either a free or paid subscriber.

1. What is a Hero Post (i.e. this post)?

2. What is Shareholder Activism?

3. What this Substack has to offer?

What is a Hero Post?

🔥 Substack is a great community. Someone (I think it’s Karen Cherry) shared the idea of a hero post.

It is the one post that explains the existence of the substack to someone new. The post is pinned as the first thing readers get to read. So this is our hero post.

We hope to discuss shareholder activism, related stock ideas, topics, strategies and have fun doing it. We will have heroes, heroines, villains and all the drama.

🙏 Thank you for reading this, you superheroes and heroines!

Screenshot from Disney’s 2020 Investor Day Presentation Materials

What is Shareholder Activism?

➡️ Shareholder activism is about investors using their stake in publicly listed companies to change the companies they have invested in for the better.

➡️ In activist marketing lingo, it’s called positive transformation.

➡️ Publicly listed companies are complex animals. Most companies today have hundreds to thousands and for larger caps, hundreds of thousands or even more shareholders.

➡️ Executive management of these companies answer to the board of directors who supposedly represent all shareholders.

A.I. Generated “Complex Animal” representing listed co.s

📉 But sometimes, things don’t really work. Cosy management are supported by dysfunctional boards and share price languished for years. Hence we have so many companies trading below book and we need activists to shake things up.

How do Activists Make Money?

🔥 Activists invest in cheap companies stuck with certain issues and they try to unlock value by resolving those issues.

It could be changing management, or divesting poor performing businesses, or even taking the entire company private.

It has been a viable strategy and some of the best activist funds have generated stellar long-term track records**.

Activism is not new. Warren Buffett was the activist when he took over Berkshire Hathaway in 1965.

🇺🇸 In the early 2000s, the current version of activism came back to the US in a big way and the movement then grew globally into Europe and more recently Japan.

Warren Buffett, the Activist

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 Family controlled businesses in Asia might need a bit more time before activists can work their magic. This is because families owning 30-50% of outstanding shares make it difficult for activist to do anything.

But the time will come. It is a matter of when, not if.

🫡 We want to be ready. We hope to make money by identifying the best activist ideas. That’s the mission!

**Harvard study on activists: https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2023/08/01/do-activists-beat-the-market/

What this Substack has to Offer?

🔖 We have published monthly investment ideas for the past few years. We started with the usual free cashflow compounder ideas but we pivoted to discuss activist names in 2025.

Interestingly, many names turned out to have activist involvement. Since Japan is the biggest hotbed, we will discuss a lot of Japan ideas, but will also touch on interesting global and Asian activist names.

From time to time we will opine on investment basics, fundamentals, portfolio trades and updates, investment strategies, market analysis and more. This substack is targeting both aspiring and seasoned investors. We publish posts every 5-10 days on both invested and toehold ideas.

🤝 We invite you to start as a free subscriber!

✅ While some articles are free for all subscribers, we would like to highlight below what you get as a paid subscriber. For USD10 a month (about the same as what you pay for binge-watching), you will receive:

• Access to high quality new investment ideas and discussions

• One free research piece upon your request (for yearly subscriptions only)

• Additional customised reports on any stock or industry analysis upon your request (additional cost required as we pay research interns to help with this)

🔥 We believe that we can deliver as much value as Netflix or other binge-watching services, at least cerebral-wise and not entertainment-wise. We encourage that you join us and become a paid subscriber today!

✅ We have also employed interns to help with the writing and to provide them exposure to the world of finance and investment. Hence, the “we”.

✅ Do let us know if you are interested. Email us at arvelstrategic@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Michael Fritzell and Rei Saito for many of the inspirations for this newsletter!

The ideas on this newsletter do not constitute investment advice and should not be deemed to be an offer to buy or sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments.