Activists Back on Attack as Lagging Fund Primed to Beat S&P 500

Nov 01 2018, 4:33 PMNov 01 2018, 5:40 PMNovember 01 2018, 4:33 PMNovember 01 2018, 5:40 PM

(Bloomberg) -- Hudson Executive Capital is taking a stake Deutsche Bank AG. Carl Icahn has started litigation against Dell Technologies Inc. Trian Fund Management wants PPG Industries Inc. to oust its chief executive officer.

Activists are on back on the attack and it might be a good time to ride their coattails.

One way could be the 13D Activist Fund, which invests in companies targeted by shareholder activism. As of Wednesday, it trailed the SPDR S&P 500 exchange-traded fund by 9 cumulative percentage points since its January 2012 inception on a total return basis. That’s the most in about two years and represents a rare reversal in the fund’s performance relative to the broader stock market. As recently as June, the activist fund held a 19 percentage point advantage.