J.P. Morgan To Advisory Firms: You’re Fired | | |
For an audio version of the newsletter, listen here.
Barely a week into the new year and proxy advisory firms are already back in the hot seat and facing a new threat from regulators, the White House, the Lone Star state and now from the House of Morgan.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that J.P. Morgan is ending its relationship with third-party proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis.
Instead of relying on their analysis and recommendations, J.P. Morgan’s asset-management unit will now use a new proprietary AI tool to guide their votes at 3,000+ U.S. shareholder meetings this season.
While it’s a bit early to call all the implications, this could be a major step in overhauling the proxy voting ecosystem. Some have questioned whether JPM is simply replacing one set of external guidelines with a set of internal ones. This sentiment was noted by Bloomberg’s Matt Levine who questioned in his column whether “all the asset managers will end up training their proxy-voting AIs on the actual track records of ISS and Glass Lewis. Good enough!”
GPP took a deeper dive into this announcement in a new memo that can be found here. In it, we look at the potential impact on shareholder activism campaigns and retail investor voting patterns and the implications for IR and Communications professionals.
Have a great weekend,
GPP Team
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Lazard: Annual Review of Shareholder Activism 2025
Lazard’s 2025 review found that global shareholder activism hit a third consecutive record year, as deal activity rebounded and boardroom pressure intensified. The report highlights a more transactional activist playbook, with capital allocation and M&A firmly back at the center heading into 2026. Read More
Barclays: 2025 Review of Shareholder Activism
Our friends at Barclays shared their annual report of the activism landscape. The report, also covered by Reuters and Barron’s, noted that favorable conditions spurred a record number of activist campaigns, the highest figure since 2018, with 30% coming from “first-time” activists, and that this surge will continue in 2026.
Fried Frank: Key Shareholder Activism Trends to Watch in 2026
In a recent memo from Fried Frank, the firm reviewed market trends from the latter half of last year, suggesting companies should expect more M&A-focused pressure, activists targeting smaller firms and increased use of private settlements. Read More
The Wall Street Journal: Emboldened Activist Investors Are Circling U.S. Banks
HoldCo Asset Management is leading a wave of activists circling the banking sector, an industry that typically doesn’t see many campaigns, thanks in part to the Trump administration's deregulation push giving activists more room to push for changes at underperforming lenders. Read More
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Dealmaking Predictions for 2026
It was a record year for large M&A deals, with 68 transactions over $10 billion in value. The Wall Street Journal writes that dealmakers are cautiously optimistic that the mega-deals trend continues throughout this year. Meanwhile, Freshfields’ Ethan Klingsberg, offered his outlook on themes to watch for in 2026, predicting dealmakers will see stronger antitrust enforcement, a private equity resurgence and continuing prevalence of M&A-focused shareholder activism.
Breakingviews: Steel M&A gets a new punchy cross-border bid
In one of the first deals of 2026, Melbourne-based BlueScope Steel announced it had received an unsolicited, all-cash 27% premium offer from Australian conglomerate SGH and U.S.-based Steel Dynamics, marking the steel industry’s first cross-border deal since the Nippon/U.S. Steel saga ended. Read More
Companies Line Up for International Oil M&A
2026 could wind up being a major dealmaking year for the global oil industry. In Russia, the FT reports that Chevron and PE firm Quantum Capital Group are teaming up on a $22 billion bid, with backing from the U.S. government, to buy the international assets of sanctioned Lukoil. Meanwhile, following the recent events in Venezuela, Elliott Management, through its affiliate Amber Energy, is set for major returns once the fund completes court-approved takeover of refining firm Citgo Petroleum’s assets.
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Freshfields: Essential Antitrust #48: Antitrust meets AI: How regulators approach AI-driven pricing and predictive analytics
Experts at Freshfields discuss the impact of AI-driven algorithmic pricing tools on global financial markets and how regulators around the world are reacting in kind. Listen Here
Harvard Law School: How Are Shareholder Rights Evolving: Insights From the 2025 OECD Corporate Governance Factbook
The OECD’s Tiziana Londero walks through the changing corporate landscape worldwide, highlighting key trends such as the increasing importance institutional investors’ votes have on deciding annual meeting outcomes and how the digitization of AGMs is making it easier for investors to access company materials. Read More
Fried Frank: Areas of Heightened DOJ Scrutiny in the Second Trump Administration
Partner Candice Wong shares how the administration’s regulatory priorities are evolving heading into another year, particularly the DOJ’s approach to enforcing healthcare and financial industries, tariffs, as well as cyber and data. Read More
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American IPOs Look to Build on Strong 2025 While Europe is Hoping the Boost Spreads Internationally
After IPOs “roared back to life” in 2025, Barron’s reports that the AI revolution is likely to keep the public markets boom going with a potential IPO class including major names like SpaceX, xAI, Anthropic, and OpenAI. Meanwhile, Bloomberg notes that across the pond, European markets have yet to see a similar uptick, with companies raising fewer than $1 billion through IPOs across all Euronext exchanges last year.
Bloomberg: Chat Platform Discord Files Confidentially for IPO
Discord, an upstart instant messaging and social media platform, joined the line of potential upcoming tech IPOs after it confidentially filed for listing, although deliberations are still ongoing regarding next steps. Read More
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January is typically a time for New Year’s Resolutions but since around 80% of those fail by February, we wanted to share something that can be useful all year long.
We are of course referring to The Infatuation’s list of most anticipated restaurant openings of 2026 in New York City. This year’s class features 26 places to set your Resy notifications now with some expansions, revamps, and address changes leading the way.
Similar to this list, we will not be including Dishoom until a location is announced although, based on our experience in their London and Edinburgh locations, this will be a must-include to your list once it opens.
With that in mind, here are the three restaurants from this list that we can’t wait to try:
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Golden Steer: Who wouldn’t want to say that they have eaten at a steakhouse that has served the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis? Coming soon to Greenwich Village, you will have your opportunity to say yes to this question as the oldest continually operating restaurant in Las Vegas is making the reverse commute expansion to NYC. Based on the Vegas menu, this is a place to bring the team (although make sure to come hungry and split everything!)
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Kjun: With a new, multi-level location a block away from its old space, this Korean-Cajun mashup is a must visit (and a GPP favorite for weekly team lunches). The new spot, which should open in February ahead of Mardi Gras, will continue to offer its usual classics (i.e., kimchi jambalaya), along with some menu additions that we cannot wait to try.
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Dean’s: The King team is expanding its portfolio with this exciting British seafood restaurant, which is set to open in April. We can already feel the British coastal air and are looking forward to washing down some roasted Scottish langoustines with a pint of Guinness.
We are excited to be back and let us know which spot you are most looking forward to!
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Bed Bath & Beyond named executive chairman Marcus Lemonis as the retailer’s new CEO. Read More
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Longtime Aon executive Eric Andersen will take over as the CEO of AIG as executive Peter Zaffino steps down. Read More
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Education company McGraw Hill announced that former Vimeo CEO Philip Moyer has been named president and CEO, replacing Simon Allen who will remain chairman. Read More
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Caterpillar CEO Joe Creed will also become executive chairman after elections as a part of a leadership transition that announced his predecessor, D. James Umpleby III, will retire. Read More
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Goldman Sachs hired Qatalyst co-founder Brian Cayne to co-lead software investment banking. Read More
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