Paul Singer: Activist Investing, Market Risks and Avoiding Losses
Feb 26, 2025
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In this enlightening discussion, Paul Singer, legendary investor and founder of Elliott Asset Management, sheds light on the ins and outs of activist investing. He shares how external pressure can drive corporate change and discusses past investment cases, including Starbucks. Singer reveals his risk management strategies amid today's volatile markets and expresses concerns about crypto's future in relation to central bank money. He emphasizes the need for a well-rounded education in business, advocating for critical thinking in aspiring investors.
Paul Singer emphasizes that activist investing serves as a necessary counterbalance to passive strategies, pushing companies to improve performance and shareholder value.
He warns that current market conditions are extraordinarily risky, highlighting the importance of diligence and learning from past investment failures to avoid losses.
Deep dives
Understanding Activist Investing
Activist investing involves acquiring significant shares in a company to influence its management and strategy with the aim of improving its performance and unlocking value. This can include advocating for management changes, restructuring capital, or altering financial strategies to enhance profitability. The practice has grown in importance as passive investment strategies dominate the market, often leading to a reduction in engagement from shareholders. Therefore, activist investors like Elliott seek to fill this gap by actively participating in company affairs to ensure that the company operates effectively and to safeguard the interests of its shareholders.
The Approach to Engaging Companies
When engaging with companies, activist investors utilize an iterative process for gathering information and formulating questions specific to each industry they enter. They draw insights from conversations with various stakeholders, including former employees and analysts, while trying to understand the cultural and structural dynamics of the company. This allows them to identify potential areas for improvement and engage in constructive discussions with management and boards. While some corporations readily accept their proposals, others may resist, and in such cases, activist investors often rely on strategic discussions and detailed presentations to support their thesis.
Navigating Investment Challenges
Investment decisions can lead to varying degrees of success, and learning from unsuccessful trades is crucial for growth. Key challenges arise from misunderstood risks or inadequate hedging strategies, leading to substantial losses in high-stakes environments. The experience gained through these challenges informs future decisions and emphasizes the importance of maintaining capital and judgment. Additionally, the landscape of the stock market remains unpredictable, requiring investors to stay vigilant and adaptive to changing economic conditions while seeking opportunities to capitalize on potential downturns.
This week, Nicolai Tangen sits down with Paul Singer, legendary investor and founder of Elliott investment Management, one of the world's most influential activist investors. Singer shares insights from his remarkable career spanning several decades, discussing how activist investing works, why companies need external pressure for change, and his philosophy of never losing money. He opens up about major investment cases, while offering sharp observations on current markets, which he sees as "just about as risky as I've ever seen." The 80-year-old Singer also shares his views on crypto, AI valuations, and his advice to young people. The conversation offers a rare glimpse into the mind of one of investing's most successful and determined practitioners.
In Good Company is hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. New full episodes every Wednesday, and don't miss our Highlight episodes every Friday.
The production team for this episode includes Isabelle Karlsson and PLAN-B's Niklas Figenschau Johansen, Sebastian Langvik-Hansen and Pål Huuse. Background research was conducted by Kristian Haga.