Activist Peltz targeted by investors to ‘restore trust’
ACTIVIST shareholder Nelson Peltz has been targeted by a group of insurgent investors who want to shake up the board at a fund linked to the billionaire.
A committee of investors, made up of asset managers Global Value Fund, Invesco, Janus Henderson Investors UK and hedge fund Pelham Capital, have pledged “to improve governance and restore trust” at Mr Peltz’s Trian Investors 1 fund, which is listed in London.
The group of investors has served notice to convene an extraordinary general meeting of the fund’s shareholders during which they will demand changes. It is seeking the removal of three board members and the nomination of two new directors.
The committee, along with Aegon Asset Management which has said it will back the proposals, controls 43.6pc of the fund’s voting share capital.
The group of investors said: “The conduct of the [Trian Investors 1 fund] board raises serious and concerning governance issues that cannot be ignored. This is why notice has been served on the company’s board to convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to ask other shareholders to reconstitute the board to improve governance and restore trust and confidence in the board.”
Mr Peltz is known for waging activist battles at consumer goods giants but now finds himself on the receiving end of a campaign to shake up his fund.
Last month, Mr Peltz, chief executive of the New York hedge fund Trian Fund Management, joined the board of Unilever as pressure grew on chief executive Alan Jope to carve up the business.
Mr Peltz’s daughter, Nicola, married Brooklyn Beckham, the eldest son of football star David Beckham, this year.
Mr Peltz’s campaigns have included attempts to agitate at Procter & Gamble (P&G), Pepsico and Danone.
He took a seat on P&G’S board in 2017 and proposed to split the consumer goods company into independent operating units. He also criticised P&G’S ageing brands; a “suffocating bureaucracy”, short-term thinking and sluggish shareholder returns. While his campaign to overhaul P&G failed, analysts believe he will deploy similar tactics at Unilever.
Trian was contacted for comment.