2015 Harvard Roundtable on Shareholder Engagement

Olshan Activist & Equity Investment Chair Steve Wolosky participated in the Harvard Roundtable on Shareholder Engagement.

The Roundtable sessions will focus on shareholder engagement with  issuers. The Roundtable will begin with discussion of current debates on  shareholder activism, including the debate on whether activism is beneficial  for the long-term, and the debate on buybacks and distributions to  shareholders. The Roundtable will then move to a discussion of engagements with  respect to activist interventions, including engagement between issuers and  investors (both activists and non-activist), and among investors. Depending on  the interest of participants, specific issues that may be discussed include  company defenses and legal reforms, such as poison pills, poison puts and  changes to Section 13(d) rules; and special types of activism, such as mergers  and acquisitions related activism, bidder-activist collaborations, and  appraisal-focused activism. The Roundtable will then move to discussion of  issuer engagement with investors in general. Depending on the interest of  participants, issues that may be discussed include lessons from the 2015 proxy season, company adopted bylaws, universal ballots, shareholder proposals, and  proxy access.