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Activism has travelled a long road from the pension-fund discipline of the 1980s, through the governance mainstreaming of the 1990s and the hedge-fund expansion of the 2000s, to the post-COVID focus on portfolio shape and operating performance. The European version today is quieter in public and firmer in private, with alliances that mix local institutions and global capital with outcomes that lean towards board refresh, capital deployment and disciplined execution. The focus has shifted towards more local players, more negotiated tactics and proposals that link directly to value creation rather than theatre. The implication for boards is clear: arrive with a coherent equity story and defensible capital choices, or someone else will write the plan for you.

The asset management landscape is inexorably shifting, with passive strategies dominating inflows. This is creating urgency amongst active managers, with the search for Alpha heightening the need for agile reallocation of capital. In Europe, this has brought renewed attention on small and mid-cap equities, opening a rare window of opportunity for those with the right narratives, execution and strategic engagement.

Stock exchanges are facing an identity test. Once viewed as neutral matchmakers of trade, they are now expected to act as dynamic platforms that actively shape capital markets. The narrative is shifting, and so are investor expectations. What once counted as value is being reassessed, and exchanges are under pressure to prove their relevance in new ways.