Recently, in the Mergers, Acquisitions, and Split-Ups course here at Harvard Law, co-taught by Professor Robert Clark and Vice Chancellor Leo Strine, Jr., practitioners from three major hedge funds gave a fascinating talk on the complex legal matters facing funds that take activist positions in publicly traded companies. The panel discussion, entitled Hedge Fund Activism, provided considerable practical insight on the range of regulatory, competitive, and political issues a fund manager must consider before participating actively in a contested election.

The panelists, including William Ackman and Roy Katzovicz of Pershing Square Capital, Sy Lorne of Millennium Partners, and Robert Knapp of Ironsides Partners, emphasized the regulatory risks hedge fund activists face–especially the antitrust and securities issues raised when a fund enters a proxy fight. The talk also addressed the effects of public perception of hedge funds and increased use of derivatives on fund activism. In addition, the panelists shared their insights on the complex voting issues that inevitably arise in a closely contested election–including which shareholders should have been entitled to vote, and which party should have prevailed.

A video of the discussion can be accessed online here.