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Proxy season is fully underway. So far, it seems that if activism in 2026 is going to have a theme, it’s going to be M&A.
We checked in with four of Wall Street’s leading advisors on their predictions for the season, and the common refrain was: M&A demands will continue to dominate.
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Lazard’s Christopher Couvelier predicted that activist campaign levels will “remain elevated” this year and that financial sponsors could help “turbocharge a wave of take-private focused campaigns.”
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Bob Marese of MacKenzie Partners, echoed a similar take while saying that campaigns will be “primarily focus[ed] on M&A and governance demands.” He continued to say that the dealmaking environment “will allow activists" demands in this area to take on more urgency and potentially find a sympathetic audience with many investors.”
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Paul Weiss’ Carmen Lu emphasized that activists are operating “in a much changed regulatory and investor environment” – driven by changes in the proxy ecosystem – that will impact shareholder engagement while leading to a continued uptick in M&A and activism.
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PJT’s Erica Lukoski stressed that “activism is now year-round,” with settlements and off-cycle pressure putting more weight on proactive storytelling and board refreshment.
This week, as part of its stewardship conference, Diligent dropped its 2026 Shareholder Activism Annual Review – which showed that M&A-driven activism is at a five-year high. It went on to say that “push to sell” demands from activists in the U.S. are up almost 30% year-over-year – a trend being seen globally.
The Diligent team also highlighted two other noteworthy trends: 1) activism volume remains historically high with global targets surpassing 1,000 for the third year in a row and 2) even when temperatures rise between boards and investors, outcomes are increasingly negotiated: 89% of activist board seats won last year came via settlements rather than a vote.
One potential reason settlements are more prevalent is that the “Big Three” index managers have reorganized their stewardship teams and expanded so-called pass-through voting programs. This makes traditional engagement strategies more challenging both for issuers and activists. As Georgeson’s Cas Sydorowitz noted in Diligent’s report: “a single engagement approach focused on top investors is no longer sufficient; a granular understanding of who actually controls the vote within the register and how to engage them is now essential.”
Have a great weekend,
GPP Team
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