Shareholder activism at S&P 1500 companies results in corporate board members who are younger and more independent yet less diverse along gender, racial and ethnic lines, according to a new report, The Impact of  Shareholder Activism on board refreshment trends at S&P 1500 Firms. Click here  to read the report. 

Commissioned by the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCi) and undertaken by Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS), the report examines hundreds of new directors who joined S&P 1500 company boards as a result of activist campaigns over the study period from 2011 through 2014. Activist investors typically favored nominees with financial experience, while incumbent boards favored nominees with executive experience. In all, some 380 new board candidates were put forth during those four years as a result of activist efforts.