Activist Asset Value Investor’s chief executive Joe Bauernfreund, who manages the £1.1bn AVI Global (AGT ), said activists need to ‘roll up their sleeves’ to deliver returns on underperforming investment companies. 

Speaking at the awards ceremony in London on 1 November, Baurenfreund, who collected the award for Best Global Equities trust said with some parts of the sector on very wide discounts with poor performance, the time is ripe for activist activity. 

AVI Global holds several trust but Baurenfreund highlight three in the private equity sector, Oakley Capital (OCI ), Princess Private Equity (PEY ) and Pantheon International (PIN ), which makes up 7.7%, 6.2% and 5.2% of AGT respectively. 

These trust have all undertaken reform in recent months to bring shareholders onside, including Pantheon, whose board also won an award, after it embarked on an impressive £200m buyback scheme. 

The manager, who was recently ran a successful campaign against Hipgnosis, that saw shareholders vote out against its continuation and oust the chair, said he hopes a ‘refreshed board’ will reconsider the ‘strategic direction’ of the company.

Can’t watch now? Read the transcript

Question: Which trusts are your currently engaging with?

Joe Bauernfreund

A lot of our engagement takes place privately, not everything goes into the public domain. We have large investments in Princess private equity, in Oakley capital and in Pantheon. But, as I said, we engage with all our all our companies, but usually it’s very constructive and very private.

Question: What do you hope will happen with Hipgnosis after your successful campaign?

Joe Bauernfreund

I hope, we got a refreshed board, and a reconsideration of the strategic direction of the company and a higher share price.

Question: Why is activism becoming more popular within the sector?

Joe Bauernfreund

I think activism is popular because discounts are very wide in certain parts of the market. And in some cases, performance has been disappointing. And activist investors need to roll their sleeves up and work hard to try and deliver returns. Where  boards haven’t done a good job or where managers haven’t done a good jobs - that’s a good opportunity for activists.