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Private equity might finally take a shine to activism, Jim Rossman, Barclays' global head of shareholder activism, tells Axios Pro.  

Why it matters: He's calling for a "significant" uptick in activism this year if dealmaking picks up. 

By the numbers: Barclays counted 129 activist campaigns at 2025's midway point, down 12% year over year, but in line with the nine-year average of 120 campaigns.

The two most prolific investors this year so far were two APAC-focused firms: Murakami Funds (eight campaigns) and Oasis (seven campaigns).

This interview was edited for length and style.

"Activists have not let up. If you look at our data and see 129 campaigns and 60 of those in the U.S., that's robust.

The real interesting change this year has been fewer campaigns in Europe and more campaigns in Japan, with the U.S. remaining steady. Despite all of the uncertainty, whether it's macro headwinds, rates and tariffs, despite all of these uncertainties…activists have not let up.

Now with the IPO market coming back, with private equity under a lot of pressure to sell their assets and a real possibility of a significant rebound in M&A … I think we're going to see a significant uptick in activism.

And remember, in the second half of the year, not the third quarter, but the fourth quarter, that's when a lot of the nomination windows start to open for the May board meeting…We could see an increase in activism above historic averages."

What are the characteristics of today's campaigns?  

"The characteristics are going to be consolidation in certain sectors as companies try to sort of figure out who's winning, who's losing.

[Activists] don't like broken companies, and the rock-star companies are out of their reach. They're looking for the really good assets that are undervalued for a variety of reasons — by them, by the market, and when that discount grows large enough, that's when they invest."

Your report mentions that Elliott was still very active, launching only six campaigns but deploying $8.8 billion. But who are the newcomers you're paying attention to?

"Irenic is really interesting. We're watching all the guys in Japan — Oasis, 3D. Sparta and Palliser in the U.K."

"If you go back and look at my old Bloomberg TV spots, you'd see [a headline underneath] that says, "This is finally the time for private equity."

With the KKR investment in Henry Schein and Apollo's recent purchases of some activism targets like Barnes Group, Arconic, the pub group in the U.K., you can see an interesting situation where you've got private equity saying, "Wow, that activist has identified a good target, that must be an undervalued, good public company, and let's go buy it."

I'm saying this now for the sixth year in a row, and I might be right…Seems to me that private equity is like, "OK, maybe they got something."

What's a misconception companies have about activist campaigns?

"The timeline is where the misconception is. The activist wants to do it now. The company is like, 'Well, I've got a five-year plan.'"

Q&A: Barclays' Jim Rossman on the state of activist investors

He's predicting a "significant" uptick in activism this year if dealmaking picks up.

Photo illustration of Jim Rossman surrounded by abstract shapes. 

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Barclays

Private equity might finally take a shine to activism, Jim Rossman, Barclays&#x27; global head of shareholder activism, tells Axios Pro. Why it matters: He&#x27;s calling for a &quot;significant&quot; uptick in activism this year if dealmaking picks up.

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Q&A: Barclays' Jim Rossman on the state of activist investors

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