Modern boards are under a lot of pressure. They must represent shareholders, work with management, and perform all sorts of compliance duties. All of their various stakeholders have demands and desires, and their goals often conflict, making the job in some ways a no-win. Here are some of the key areas and players that put pressure on boards.
Activist investors
The glamor boys of the investing world, activist hedge funds are renowned for taking small stakes in underperforming companies and then pressuring their boards to sell or change strategies in a way that will pump up the stock price (at least in the short term), at which point they sell for a tidy profit.
