Senpoint Partners launches proxy advisory firm in U.S. activism market

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Senpoint launches proxy advisory firm

Highlights

Senpoint Partners, founded by former executives of Morrow & Co, D.F. King, Sodali & Co, and MacKenzie Partners, launched a proxy advisory firm entering the U.S. activism market.
Senpoint will compete with Innisfree M&A, Okapi Partners, and MacKenzie amid heightened activism and M&A activity, offering proxy solicitation, modeling, and shareholder engagement services.
The firm claims to have developed an AI-powered stock surveillance system from scratch, aiming to differentiate from competitors relying on legacy platforms.

Founding team enters busy proxy season

As first reported by Reuters, Senpoint Partners reunites former senior executives from several established proxy solicitation rivals to advise companies and hedge funds on issues including board composition, mergers and corporate governance.

The founding partners are Ron Knox, former CEO of Morrow & Co; Ed McCarthy, former head of M&A and Activism at D.F. King; Paul Schulman, former co-head of M&A and Activism Advisory at Sodali & Co and a former managing director at MacKenzie Partners; and Geoffrey Weinberg, a former head of retail shareholder advisory at Sodali & Co who also worked at Weil Gotshal.

The partners say they begin work on Monday. Michael Verrechia, who previously worked with Schulman at Sodali, is expected to join in January after his working restrictions end, according to two people familiar with the matter, while Sam Geoffroy will lead the firm's stock surveillance operation.

Industry competition and shareholder scrutiny

The new firm enters a tightly held proxy solicitation market in which companies increasingly need support on shareholder outreach, vote projection modeling and return tracking as activism pressure and deal activity remain elevated, bankers and lawyers say.

Senpoint is set to compete with established firms including Innisfree M&A, Okapi Partners and MacKenzie. Eduardo Gallardo, global co-chair of Mergers and Acquisitions at Paul Hastings, says the group combines solicitation, legal and financial experience and that current market activity leaves room for another high-level competitor.

The founders' ties date back to the 1980s, and the group grew closer during the contested Procter & Gamble board vote in 2017 after Nelson Peltz sought a board seat. Schulman says the firm has built its stock surveillance system from the ground up using newer technologies including AI, rather than relying on legacy systems and practices.

Our earlier report on activist pressure at Big Yellow covered how Irenic Capital Management and Ancora Holdings each built roughly 4% stakes and urged the UK self-storage group to review strategic options, including a potential sale, amid claims the shares were undervalued. We noted that the campaign unfolded as Big Yellow traded near multi-year lows despite solid results, against a broader backdrop of consolidation across UK listed real estate that could draw both private equity and strategic interest.

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