Conversations with our institutional investor clients point to shareholders continuing to get more vocal in expressing how they want their energy companies governed and incentivized, so we were treated to a most timely and thought-provoking conversation with Joele Frank, founder and managing partner of Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, a leading global strategic communications firm and the dominant player in U.S. M&A public relations and activism defense. Feels like we’re setting up for more M&A and shareholder activism up and down the energy value chain in coming years and Joele shared with us tangible examples of how and why shareholder engagement is key to energy companies successfully navigating these event-driven corporate waters. It is also clear that environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is more than just a passing fancy among large institutional investors and Joele was kind enough to leave us with some intriguing food for thought on this topic, which we suspect will garner more air time in our beloved energy industry in years to come.
Maynard Holt, Joele Frank