August 17, 2021
Everyone thinks they're Gordon Gekko, but we rarely encounter anyone who can consistently outperform as an event-driven, activist shareholder. Witness FrontFour Capital Group, which sits atop the activist strategy league table. Its gaudy 7,253.42 bps of annualized three-year alpha is four times that of its closest rival.
But FrontFour -- which is guarded about the composition of its portfolio, although it is generally known to be heavy on real estate and amusement venues -- is drawing a jagged line. Just four months ago, it had -1,963.75 bps of annualized, second-worst on the table. Still, a few of its rivals -- Arex Capital Management, Barington Capital Group, ESL Investments and Osmium Partners -- have had a smoother path to success.