Audio Conferences

  September 12, 2007 at 02:00PM ET

Audio Conference Presented by:

Hedge fund activism is on the rise, and your company may be at risk. Today’s activist hedge funds are using annual meetings, the media, and each other’s coattails to win board seats and force change.

But, it’s not always easy to predict when a company will find itself targeted by a hedge fund.

To address this developing phenomenon, it’s critical to take a close look at your company and see if it fits the profile for a hedge fund takeover.

Join the Advisory Board of Kennedy’s Investor Relations Newsletter and IOMA for this audio conference to learn how to recognize and deflect hedge fund activism.

Hedge fund activists, exempt from any direct regulation by the SEC, NASD and other regulatory bodies, can strike suddenly and without warning. Your company might first find out from a Schedule 13D that it has been targeted by a hedge fund with a 5% stake—and shortly after learn that 40% of the company is in the hands of hedge fund activists.

What’s worse, the activists’ objectives are not always clear. Their goal might be to milk the company for cash by demanding dividends and share repurchases, or, in the other extreme, to try and increase the value of the company over a longer term.

Either way, the activist is looking to increase the value of shares by intervening with management.

Don’t become a surprise victim of hedge fund wolf packs. Join Kennedy Information, IOMA and our panel of IR experts to learn how to deflect hedge fund activism and build a support base among your shareholders before the hedge fund activists move in.

DIAL IN & LEARN:

• The "M.O." of hedge funds: How do they operate?
• The difference between "alpha" activists and "wolves": understanding who is targeting you and why
• What kinds of companies hedge fund activists generally target
• What activists will push for—if they target your company
• How to develop investor relations strategies to prepare for, respond to, and minimize the damage of a hedge fund attack
• How to build a communication strategy that will ward off proxy fights
• How to track hedge fund activity in your stock
• What you need to know about "empty" voting, including:
• Why are some investors getting more votes in corporate elections than their shareholdings would normally allow?
• How hedge funds can borrow shares and get more control of votes, without the risk.
• Is it likely that the SEC will impose restrictions on borrowed shares?

Featured Faculty:

Mary Beth Kissane
Principal, Walek & Associates

Mary Beth is President of the New York Chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), a member of the steering committee of the NIRI Senior Roundtable Steering Committee and various NIRI ad hoc committees. She is also a member of the American Bar Association.

Prior to joining Walek & Associates, Mary Beth provided senior counsel to clients in landmark global merger and crisis situations, as well as media, public and investor relations initiatives for financial and alternative investment firms while at Abernathy MacGregor. She oversaw the financial services practice at Hill & Knowlton as a Senior Managing Director within the agency’s corporate practice, and was a member of the litigation and professional services practices. Prior to that, she advised international and domestic clients at Georgeson.

Paul Schulman
Executive Managing Director, The Altman Group, Inc.

Paul has over eighteen years of experience in the proxy solicitation industry. He joined the Altman Group in October 2002 and heads The Altman Group’s corporate unit, overseeing all proxy solicitation, M&A and shareholder identification projects.

His primary responsibilities involve representing clients in proxy contests, mergers, tender offers and corporate financings and restructurings. He also counsels clients on governance and compensation issues and advises on shareholder proposals.

Ralph A. Siciliano
Tannenbaum Helpern Syracuse & Hirschtritt LLP

Ralph Siciliano advises the firm's public company, broker/dealer and investment advisor clients concerning regulatory compliance under the federal securities laws. He has extensive experience dealing with federal and state regulatory agencies and self regulatory organizations, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, NASDR, Inc., The New York Stock Exchange, Inc. and the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York.

Eileen O'Connor