Listeners of this podcast will know that I believe one of the most dynamic areas of investing is that of activism. In the true spirit of value investing, there’s a crop of activist investors who are now embracing their role in engaging management in various ways, whether to improve operational performance, address governance issues, or simply to encourage better capital allocation and distribution policies.
Today we’re exploring this topic further with Anne-Sophie d’Andlau. Anne-Sophie co-founded CIAM with her partner, Catherine Berjal, in 2010. Since then they have led several groundbreaking activist campaigns in Europe, capturing the attention of the financial press everywhere.
Anne-Sophie is a Partner and Deputy CEO at CIAM and she is responsible for the fund’s strategy and development. CIAM, which stands for Charity Investment Asset Management, donates 25% of its annual performance fees to charities dedicated to improving children's health and education across the world. Before founding CIAM, Anne-Sophie worked at Systeia Capital Management from 2001 to 2008, first as Head of Research for the Event Driven and M&A strategies, then taking on a portfolio management role from 2003 to 2008.
On this episode, Anne-Sophie and I talk about how she started her career in finance, how CIAM evolved into active investment, why Europe is well-suited for a new wave of activist investors, CIAM’s approach to idea sourcing, analysis, and risk management, what Anne-Sophie hopes to see for the future of activism in Europe, and so much more!
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