Institutional investors and ownership engagement

Abstract

This article provides a framework for analysing the character and degree of ownership by investors.It argues that the general term institutional investor in itself doesn’t say very much about the quality or degree of ownership It is therefore an evasive shorthand for policy discussions about ownership The reason is that there are large differences in ownership between different categories of investors. There are also differences in ownership within the same category of investors such as hedge funds, investment funds,etc. These differences arise from the fact that the degree of ownership is determined by a number of different features and choices that together make up the investor’s When ownership is not a central part of the business model,public policies and voluntary standards aiming to improve the quality of ownership among investors are likely to have limited effect. Based on an empirical overview of the relative sise of different categories of investors, the article identifies a set of 7 features and 19 choices that in different combinations define the investor’s business model. These features and choices are then used to establish a taxonomy for identifying different degrees of ownership ranging from no engagement to inside engagement.