Abe Friedman: "Investors Don't Care As Much About The Messenger As They Do About The Message."

Intro.(1:30) - Start of interview.(2:12) - Abe's "origin story". He grew up in L.A and moved up to the Bay Area where he attended Berkeley for college and law school. After law school he went to Seattle and worked in-house for US West Communications (now Qwest Corporation). Back in northern California he joined another telecom before joining the founding team at Glass Lewis in 2003 ("the market was ripe for disruption").(5:37) - His time as the Global Head of Corporate Governance at Barclays Global Investors (2005-2009).(7:38) - His time as the Managing Director and Global Head of Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment at BlackRock (2009-2011). "The focus and attention to corporate governance was ramping up at that time and BlackRock was an incredible spot to be in a moment of so much change in the space."(9:39) - On why he decided to start Camberview Partners in 2012. "Most of the people thought I was crazy. It was a big decision to take that leap." "Maybe the hardest decision that I've had to make professionally but probably the best decision in terms of what it has created in the market."(11:45) - He started the firm because he believed that they were at a moment in the evolution of governance where companies would have to care a lot more about the institutions and people voting their shares. Two drivers: Say-on-Pay (after Dodd-Frank) and the rise of Shareholder Activism. Companies were not doing much engagement with voting teams at the big institutional investors. They needed better advice.(19:38) - On the rise of institutional investors and their growing influence in corporate governance.(24:28) - On the rise of stakeholder capitalism and ESG. "I think it's definitely here to stay."(26:53) - The current state of play in shareholder activism.(31:20) - Two issues to consider in the current market:"It's very common for public companies to underestimate the extent to which investors don't care so much about the messenger as they do about the message. They care about the substance.""The need for companies to change how they manage their IR strategy has never been stronger."  "Most companies are still operating in an old and outdated IR model [still tailored mostly to fundamental investors, when it should address a much broader set of constituencies]."(36:53) - On board diversity and social changes. "This has impacted the investor dialogue, including human capital management."(41:42) - On the rise of private markets and startup governance issues. How PJT Partners has allowed them to expand their governance footprint beyond only voting (in public companies). Now they tap all investor issues (their team has about ~70 people now).(47:28) - The books that have greatly influenced his life:Crossing to Safety (1987), by Wallace Stegner.The Return of Martin Guerre (1983), by Natalie Zemon Davis.(48:48) - His mentors: his scout master (Marty Burger), his grandmother, and his former his boss at BGI (Naozer Dadachanji, who became a board member and investor in Camberview Partners).(51:42) - Quote that he thinks of often, or lives his life by: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." (Martin Luther King).(52:54) - An unusual or absurd habit that he loves: family tradition of watching "the price is right" (while they're home sick).(53:35) - His time as Mayor of the City of Piedmont.(55:06) - The living person he most admires: his wife.Abe M. Friedman is a Partner and Head of PJT Camberview, based in San Francisco. Mr. Friedman joined PJT Partners through the acquisition of CamberView Partners in 2018. Mr. Friedman founded CamberView in 2012 and served as its Chief Executive Officer through 2018. Before founding CamberView, Mr. Friedman was Managing Director and Global Head of Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment at BlackRock. Prior to that role, he served in leadership positions, including Global Head of Corporate Governance, at Barclays Global Investors from 2005 until the company merged with BlackRock in 2009. In 2003, Mr. Friedman helped found Glass, Lewis & Co. and served as Chief Policy Officer and General Counsel. If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing this podcast on social media. __ You can follow Evan on social media at:Twitter @evanepsteinLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack https://evanepstein.substack.com/Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License You can follow Evan on social media at:X: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License