Summary

Shareholders have lost a lot of money due to recent corporate meltdowns, and they are blaming everyone but themselves. It is true that most individual shareholders aren't able to do much to protect themselves to begin with. However, most of us have trusted larger shareholders, such as mutual funds and pension funds, to handle our money. Have they let us down? There are some public pension funds that earnestly try to engage in shareholder activism. However, for the most part, most institutions are not active shareholders. Why is this? Institutional investors face incentive problems, conflict of interest dilemmas, and regulatory constraints. Should these hurdles be closely reconsidered? The answer for restoring investor confidence must involve individual shareholders themselves.