The Activists List
"Some people make money studying artificial intelligence. I make money studying natural stupidity." - Carl Icahn
✳️ Welcome back to 8% Value Activist, where we track activist activities globally, starting with Japan.
👏 There are more than 1,000 activist campaigns globally, according to Bloomberg’s activist list on BI ACT <GO>, which tracks ongoing activities with salient data points, like return on investments.
👇 Barclays published an interesting report about activists last year. Here’s a screenshot on one of the most interesting charts
😊 On this substack, we try to provide some qualitative insights and hopefully make some alpha featuring and investing in the most interesting names.
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🌎 We have mapped both Japanese activist and global activist stock names and this is the final piece of the puzzle where we attempt to track all the prominent activists operating globally using publicly available information.
✳️ Our previous two popular posts on activist stocks:
✳️ This one completes the trilogy. These three posts are free. In fact, we made everything free on this newsletter. We paused subscriptions because we cannot write regularly due to other commitments.
✳️ We will be updating these three lists when we write about new activist campaigns.
✳️ If you would like to know more about any one of them, happy to hop on a call and discuss whether we can make this into a bigger project!
✳️ We have included the activists’ AUMs and track record estimates and highlights of their landmark activist campaigns. Most activist fund managers do not publicized their AUM and track record (unless they are super good), so these datapoints would be best guess estimates.
3D (AUM: c.USD3bn | Return: c.17%pa | Recent Positions: Casio Computer $6952.JP, Square Enix $9684.JP, NS Solutions $2327.JP) : 3D was founded in 2015 by Kanya Hasegawa who has built a formidable franchise engaging Japanese companies with hidden latent assets such as prime properties. The fund scored not one, but several home runs including Toshiba, Fujisoft and Sapporo Holdings, with the latter two owning valuable real estate that 3D managed to help unlock. Its website below lists presentations for past and current engagements:
Ancora Holdings Group (AUM: c.USD10bn | Return: c.11%pa | Recent Positions: Broadcom $AVGO.US, Warner Bro Disovery $WBD.US, CSX Railway $CSX.US) : Ancora was founded more than 20 years ago as a broad-based family wealth investment outfit but started its activist strategy under James Chadwick. They are skilled at leveraging media and proxy advisory firms while holding small stakes. With Paramount Skydance winning the bride, Ancora adds another success badge for their activist strategy.
Ariake Capital (AUM: c.USD500mn | Return: c.30%pa | Recent Positions: eGuarantee $8771.JP, Aichi Financial Group $7389.JP, Lifenet Insurance $7157.JP) : Ariake was founded by ex-Goldman Sachs analyst Katsunori Tanaka in 2020 focused on Japanese regional banks trading way below book value. Katsunori wanted to become the friendly activist to engage these banks, requesting some to selldown cross-shareholdings and do buybacks to unlock value. He scored multiple hits as shown below.
Asset Value Investors (AUM: c.USD1-2bn | Return: c.11-13%pa | Recent Positions: Ines $9742.JP, Rohto Pharmaceutical $4527.JP, Synchro Food $3963.JP) : AVI has a long history and is today run by Joe Bauernfreund who also established the Japan strategy for the fund. AVI Japan Opportunity Trust (Ticker: $AJOT.LN) is listed and we actually can all just buy that and forget about all this analysis. Interestingly, AVI is engaging Dan Loeb’s Third Point, fellow-activist manager. Talk about cannibalism. In short, AVI is interesting and our portfolio owned two of their latter names above.
Cevian Capital (AUM: c.USD14-16bn | Return: c.20%pa | Recent Positions: Akzo Nobel $AKZA.NA, Smith & Nephew $SN/.KN, UBS Group $UBSG.SW) : Cevian is one of the most established European activist with a fantastic track record. The fund most famously engaged Volvo after building an 8% stake, improved the carmaker operationally and engineered the subsequent sale to Geely of China making billions of profits. Its current engagement with UBS is coming to the Endgame: Will UBS stay in Switzerland or move? Background below:
Dalton Investments (AUM: c.USD5-6bn | Return: c.8-10%pa | Recent Positions: Shimano $7309.JP, Anicom $8715.JP, Square Enix $9684.JP) : Dalton was founded by Jamie Rosenwald who was an academic professor. Over the last few years, the fund pivoted to Japan with Masumi Nishida, Partner and MD, becoming the local face for Dalton. Its most high-profile engagement must be Fuji Media where it was highly successful, forcing out the firm’s “Emperor” Hisashi Hieda who was one the board for f*cking 40 years. Dalton reportedly doubled its investment on Fuji Media. Good alpha! The fund is also affiliated to the Nippon Active Value Fund (with description below).
Effissimo Capital Management (AUM: c.USD5-7bn | Return: c.13-17%pa | Recent Positions: Soft99 $4464.JP, Pacific Industrial $7250.JP, Kawasaki Kisen $9107.JP) : Effissimo was the reincarnation of the original Murakami Fund, created by Yoshiaki Murakami, Japan’s original activist. Today it is run by Takashi Kousaka. The fund famously held 39% of Kawasaki Kisen, one of Japan’s top shipping companies for 8 years and received one board appointment.
Elliott Investment Management (AUM: c.USD80bn | Return: c.14%pa | Recent Positions: Triple Flag Precious Metals $TFPM.US, Phillips 66 $PSX.US, rest in list below) : Elliott is arguably the most prominent, most successful activist investor of our time and a lot has been written about
BryanPaul Singer, the founder and their past glories, like taking down governments and what not. In 2026, its high profile engagements include Pepsico and Toyota Industries, a successful campaign in Japan! Here’s something interesting written in 2018 about Elliott from BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-39630871📊 Our portfolio has three names: Pepsico, Kansai Electric and BP targeted by Elliott while recent names: Align Technology, Daikin and London Stock Exchange also look interesting enough to be considered. Elliott’s holdings below:
Elliott’s holdings as of Apr 2026 Farallon Capital Management (AUM: c.USD40bn | Return: c.10-14%pa | Recent Positions: T&D Holdings $4464.JP, Astellas Pharmaceutical $7250.JP, Fujitec $9107.JP) : Farallon was founded in 1986 not as an activist fund but has scored several high profile wins in the last two decades. Famously the fund bought a controlling stake in BCA, Indonesia’s largest bank after the Asian Financial Crisis and Toshiba, before it was privatized. Both were home runs for Farallon.
GreenWood Investors (AUM: c.USD120mn | Return: c.10-15%pa | Recent Positions: CTT (Portugal), Swatch Group, $UHR (Switzerland), Jack In The Box $JACK.US) : Steven Wood has built his franchise targeting interesting names in both US and Europe. Swatch, which we also featured on this substack, has done well. He won 80% of the votes but was rejected a board seat! Their published presentation on Swatch below is worth a read. (Updated Feb 2026)
https://www.gwinvestors.com/wp-content/uploads/GW-Swatch-2026-Proposals-Presentation-vF.1.pdf
Hibiki Path Advisors (AUM: c.USD500mn | Return: c.20-30%pa | Recent Positions: Fujikura Composites $5121.JP, Tamai Steamship $9127.JP, Mandom $4917.JP) : Hibiki Path Advisors is a Singapore based Japan focused activist fund, founded by Yuya Shimizu, ex-Goldman Sachs and ex-Dalton veteran investor focusing on small and mid-cap activism in Japan. Its website is a treasure trove of information with many interesting case studies. The firm recently joined force with 3D Investment Partners described above.
Icahn Enterprise $IEP.US (AUM: c.USD7-10bn | Return: c.10-20%pa | Current Positions: CVR Energy $CVI.US, International Flavors and Fragrances, $IFF.US) : Carl Icahn has been a controversial activist for over 40 years, battling countless foes and arm-twisting his way to success in many high profile battles. His long-standing feud with Michael Dell is well depicted in the latter’s book - Play Nice But Win. That said, the above position IFF 0.00%↑ could be interesting. Wikipedia has a good summary of Mr Icahn’s story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Icahn
Independent Franchise Partners (AUM: c.USD22bn | Return: c.10%pa | Recent Positions: Universal Music Group $UMG.NA, Shiseido $4911.JP, Solventum $SOLV.US) : IFP was originally focused on strong franchise businesses across consumer, healthcare names but has also conducted activist campaigns globally. IFP believes there are only about 180 franchise companies globally that can generate sustainable high ROIC. With that, they focus on management that has mis-managed franchises, preferring private letters to boards to reinvigorate fallen franchises.
Inclusive Capital (AUM: c.USD2bn | Return: unknown | Recent Positions: Bayer $BAYN.GY, Salesforce $CRM.US) : Inclusive is an ESG focused, constructivist fund founded by Jeff Ubben, who was also founder of ValueAct (described below) with similar friendly activist ideology. Unfortunately, early bets did not work and Inclusive is said to be winding down.
Irenic Capital (AUM: c.USD2.5bn | Return: 14-19% | Recent Positions: Snap Inc $SNAP.US, Teleflex Inc $TFX.US) : Irenic Capital is a recent fund founded by ex-Elliot portfolio manager with strong returns. Its early wins in News Corp and Restaurant Group PLC built momentum for more wins. Recently, Irenic launched its campaign against Snap Inc: https://www.savesnapnow.com/ with 70 impressive slides. One of the best slides as follows:
JANA Partners (AUM: c.USD2bn | Return: 8-10% | Recent Positions: Fiserv Inc $FISV.US, Alkami Technology $ALKT.US, Six Flags Entertainment $FUN.US) : Founded in 2001, JANA is founded by Barry Rosenstein as a catalyst-driven activist fund pushing for M&A and aggressive share buyback. JANA most famously catalyzed Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods in 2017, making $300m in a short time.
Japan Activation Capital (AUM: c.USD1.5bn | Return: TETT* | Recent Positions: Omron $6645.JP, Meiji Holdings $2269.JP, Lion Corp $4912.JP) : JAC was founded by ex-Deputy Head of Carlyle Japan, Hiroyuki Otsuka as a dedicated engagement fund utilizing private equity’s playbook - fully cooperating with management. It is also a rare Japan fund that could raise more than USD1bn for a first fund, thanks to Mr Otsuka’s brand power. Its entire portfolio is listed on its website as of Apr 2026:
https://japanactivationcapital.com/en/portfolio/
*TETT: too early to tell
Kaname (AUM: c.USD500mn | Return: c.8-10%pa | Recent Positions: Wacom $6.JP, Daihatsu Diesel Manufacturing $6023.JP) : Kaname was founded by veterans Toby Rodes and Erick Ikauniks, both at GMO (Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co.) where they managed billions. One of their first investments Daihatsu Diesel was a success with its share price surge They recently partnered with AVI (described above) to engage Wacom. AVI’s deck for Wacom:
https://www.assetvalueinvestors.com/content/uploads/2025/05/Wacom_May-2025_ENG_vF.pdf
Misaki Capital (AUM: c.USD800mn | Return: c.8-10%pa | Recent Positions: KeePer Technology Lab $6036.JP, Milbon $4919.JP, JEOL $6951.JP) : Misaki was founded by Yasunori Nakagami who was an ex-consultant. He believed in long-term constructive engagement and became influential amongst Japanese corporations’ CEOs. Misaki focuses on return on capital improvement and one of his engagement even became a Harvard Business School’s case study. Nakagami has since passed the reins to the next generation.
Murakami Funds (AUM: c.USD5bn | Return: c.10-15%pa | Recent Positions: Rengo $3941.JP, DeNA $2432.JP, Iriso Electronics $6908.JP) : Murakami Funds refer to several entities (E.g. City Index Eleventh) controlled by Yoshiaki Murakami and his daughter Aya Nomura. The former being the original Japan activist who went to jail going against Japan Inc. Officially, he was charged with insider trading. Interested readers can read about his fascinating tale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiaki_Murakami). Today, the funds are run by Murakami’s family office in Singapore.
Nanahoshi Management (AUM: c.USD100mn | Return: c.12%pa | Recent Positions: Tsutsumi Jewellery $7937.JP, Wakamoto Pharma $4512.JP, HS Holdings $8699.JP) : Nanahoshi or Seven Stars was founded by Satoru Matsuhashi focusing on ESG activism which includes governance issues. Past engagement targeted poor governance, animal rights, highlighting misconduct, using these as catalysts to improve companies. Their following campaign is an interesting read! (Updated Feb 2026)
Nippon Active Value Fund (AUM: c.USD600mn | Return: c.17-20%pa | Recent Positions: Senko Group $9069.JP, Ezaki Glico $2206.JP, Mitsubishi Pencil $7676.JP) : Nippon Active Value Fund was founded by Dalton’s CIO Jamie Rosenwald and Paul Davis, Chairman of Rising Sun Management, another affiliated outfit. Performance is pretty strong based on public records perhaps due to its smaller size vs Dalton’s. Its recent holdings as shown below.
Nippon Value Investors (AUM: c.USD900mn | Return: c.10%pa | Recent Positions: MCJ $6670.JP, Transcosmos $9715.JP, Komeri $8218.JP) : Nippon Value Investors was founded by Yoshihiko Ito, one of Japan’s earliest activist advocating constructive activism. The fund quietly engages companies behind-the-scenes and is affiliated with Silchester (description below). The fund, as an early investor in MCJ, a PC maker, benefitted from the latter’s MBO by founder and Bain Capital.
Oasis Management (AUM: c.USD3-7bn | Return: c.15-20%pa | Recent Positions: Kao $4452.JP, Taiyo Holdings $4626.JP, Horiba $6856.JP, Kobayashi Pharma $4967.JP) : One the most successful activist funds in Asia focusing on Japan. The screenshot below shows its top 30 holdings of which many of the top 15 are featured on this substack. Oasis was founded by Seth Fischer, who is based in HK and has made quite a name for himself as a formidable activist investor. His largest bet today engaging Kao, Japan’s P&G, is worth monitoring. His fund has also done really well! (Updated May 2026)
Palliser (AUM: c.USD1.5bn | Return: c.15-20%pa | Recent Positions: Japan Post Holdings $6178.JP, SK Square ($402340.KS, Korea), Rin Tinto $RIO.LN) : Palliser was founded by ex-Elliott’s James Smith focusing on activist stocks in North Asia. They have targeted big companies such as Keisei Railway (ParentCo of Oriental Land which operates Tokyo Disneyland), Samsung’s and LG’s subsidiaries and the abovementioned Japan Post Holdings. They also took a stab at Singapore’s Great Eastern’s privatization, calling the deal “gravely unfair” for shareholders. ST link below. (Updated Dec 2025)
Pershing Square (AUM: c.USD20bn | Return: c.16%pa | Recent Positions: Uber Technologies $UBER.US, Restaurant Brands, $QSR.US) : Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square needs no introduction. Pershing Square ranked as one of the most successful activist fund in the last two decades. He is often compared with Third Point’s Dan Loeb and Greenlight Capital’s David Einhorn but the latter has suffered from poor performance and not being discussed much recently.
Silchester International (AUM: c.USD38bn | Return: c.13-16%pa | Recent Positions: Bank of Kyoto, $8369.JP, LG Corp, $003550.KS) : Silchester was founded in 1994 by Stephen Butt as a traditional long-only fund but has turned activist in recent years. It waged a campaign against dirt-cheap Japanese banks and was awarded a 40% return with Bank of Kyoto which has since changed their ticker to $5844.JP. Silchester still owns a 6% stake. The following shows its largest global holdings. (Updated Apr 2026)
Silchester International’s top holdings using HLDR <GO> on Bloomberg SilverCape Investments (AUM: c.USD100mn | Return: unknown | Recent Positions: Cyber Security Cloud $4493.JP, Fuva Brain $3927.JP, Broadband Tower $3776.JP) : SilverCape is a Japan focused activist fund with strong family office backing which has become prominent for blocking a low-ball bid for Digital Holdings in 2025. However, it was ultimately unsuccessful as Digital Holdings was taken private by Hakuhodo, one of Japan’s largest ad agencies.
Spruce Point Management (AUM: c.USD300mn | Return: unknown | Recent Positions: Zoom Communications $ZM.US) : Spurce Point funded by Ben Axler was more focused on short-selling, in particular shorting SPACs during 2020-2021. It also successfully shorted Oatly (alternative milk) and Genius Sports. But what is interesting is its recently buy call on Zoom Communications. While Zoom is interesting from many angles, its estimated 1% of Anthropic (currently USD3bn) could be worth more than its own market cap in the near future.
Starboard Value (AUM: c.USD8bn | Return: c.15%pa | Recent Positions: CarMax $KMX.US, Lamb Weston $LW.US) : Starboard Value was founded by Jeff Smith and Peter Feld who has worked closely as partners-in-crime to engage Corporate America as activists. They are known to be granular, tenacious and super hands-on. Their modus operandi include being operational as well as highly successful in installing board members. According to Fortune magazine, Starboard generated annualized returns of 15.5% with 84% of its activist campaigns being profitable between 2002 and 2014. Since 2004, Starboard has replaced over 80 directors on about 30 boards.
Strategic Capital (AUM: c.USD1-2bn | Return: c.20-25%pa | Recent Positions: Nissan Motors, $7201.JP, Nissan Shatai $7222.JP, Keihanshin Building $8818.JP, rest in list below) : Strategic Capital is one of the most successful Japan focused activist founded by Tsuyoshi Maruki who was Japan’s original activist Murakami’s partner. Strategic has come a long way from a small mid cap focused activist to targeting Japanese steelmakers, Mizuho and Nissan group companies. (Updated May 2026)
TCI Fund Management (AUM: c.USD77bn | Return: c.18%pa | Current Positions: GE Aerospace: $GE.US, Safran: $SAF.FR, S&P Global: $SPGI.US, SAP: $SAP.GY) : Sir Chris Hohn’s TCI, aka the Children’s Fund, is one of the most successful activist hedge fund. FT recently reported it was the most successful hedge fund in 2025. Famous for high concentration and deep analysis, TCI’s campaigns were intense and often up against government-affiliated organizations like Deutsche Borse, J-Power and ABN Amro. Campaign against J-Power failed as the Japanese government invoked national security (now known as FEFTA, analogous to CFIUS in the US) to block TCI. ABN Amro was successful and the bank was sold and TCI made about USD1bn. (Updated May 2026)
Third Point (AUM: c.USD7bn | Return: c.8-10%pa | Current Positions: DSV $DSV (Denmark), Vistra Corp, $VST.US) : Third Point is known as one of the most successful activists globally. In 1995, Dan Loeb founded Third Point as an event-driven value fund which then pivoted into activism in the 2000s. Past high profile campaigns included Fanuc, Sony, Sotheby’s, Seven & I Holdings and Yahoo! While aggressive in the earlier years, Third Point has turned constructivist with firms actively seeking out their advice in recent years. In 2026, it bought Alphabet, one of our portfolio companies!
Trian Partners (AUM: c.USD6bn | Return: c.6-8%pa | Current Positions: Janus Henderson Group $JHG.US, Solventum, $GE.US) : Trian was founded by Nelson Peltz who has built a reputation as a constructive activist focusing on operational fixes. His team has been credited to catalyze improvement in P&G, Heinz and Mondelez amongst other wins, although it famously lost the battle at Disney. Trian has also engaged one of our portfolio companies - Pepsico (2012-2016) with good results. Unfortunately, performance has languished over the past few years to single digit returns.
ValueAct Management (AUM: c.USD10bn | Return: c.12%pa | Recent Positions: Walt Disney $DIS.US, Trend Micro $4704.JP) : ValueAct was founded 2000 by Jeff Ubben who has since left and built another activist fund named Inclusive Capital. Current team is led by two co-CEOs and the fund is focused on Japan after scoring several early wins starting with Olympus, the endoscope company. ValueAct is known for its friendly activism but has also gone hostile when the situation calls for it, as with 7-11. They might also triggered Couche-Tard bold c.USD50bn bid (using yen loans, via yen carry, what else!) for the Japanese retail icon which ultimately failed though.
Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office (AUM: c.USD2bn | Return: unknown | Known Positions: Toyo Construction $1890.JP) : Setup in 2020 by Nintendo’s founding family heir, Banjo Yamauchi and run by ex-Goldman Sachs Murakami, YFO is a unique activist Japanese family office aiming to transform corporate Japan. It has also bought out Taiyo Pacific Management, another activist, perhaps to learn the “tricks of the trade”. Its most famous campaign was Toyo Construction $1890.JP where YFO fought and won a boardroom battle and ultimately exited by selling to general construction company Taisei at a profit.
Zennor Asset Management (AUM: c.USD1bn | Return: c.15%pa | Recent Positions: Hi-Lex $7279.JP, Kyocera $6971.JP, Bank of Iwate $8345.JP, Kyoto Financial Group $5844.JP, Itochu-Shokuhin $2692.JP) : Activist fund focusing on Japan with good returns. The screenshot below shows its top 20+ holdings courtesy of Bloomberg. Many names are also held by other activists and Tokyotokeiba Co, the horse-racing operator with abundant real estate also looks interesting. (Updated Feb 2026)
✳️ Last but not least, Barclays published their 2025 report on global activism with lots of good charts, stats and insights into the world of activist stocks. All free!
Barclay’s 2025 report about activism: https://www.ib.barclays/content/dam/barclaysmicrosites/ibpublic/documents/our-insights/Q4-2025-Shareholder-Activism/Barclays_2025_Review_of_Shareholder_Activism.pdf
Huat Ah!
This post does 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.
What Japanese conglomerates are in most need of an activist in your opinion? AND don’t have a controlling shareholder already. Loved this post super interesting stuff on the activists themselves. :) thank you so much