Controversial activists profit from market woes

Activist hedge funds are hitting the headlines. The Children's Trust and most recently the Centaurus and Pardus run-in with French IT company Atos Origin have raised eyebrows over the stance these funds take. Phyllis Feinberg in New York and Stephen Quigley in London report on the varied and mixed fortunes of this strategy

The rise of activist funds and funds with an activist investment mandate reflect the recognition that relatively small stakes can lever real power to force change and exploit market opportunities.

The flexibility of activist funds compared with more mainstream funds enables them to take advantage of events in the lifetime of a company.

The objective of activism is to amass enough ownership in a targeted company to influence change while securing profit explains, Phillip Goldstein, the founder of

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