Hedge fund tactics are often confused with shareholder activism, which traditionally involves investor’s participation in the company’s affairs on wider social concerns such as employment benefit policies, corporate governance norms and environmental performances. Informed shareholder monitoring can increase shareholder values and conventional institutional investors have been assuming this role replacing individuals. How are hedge funds different from investment vehicles such as mutual, private equity or venture? Hedge funds are usually pooled and privately organised with carefully selected high net worth members, generally passive with no control in the hedge fund’s business. Hedge funds steer clear of regulatory constraints, particularly involving registrations, disclosures, capitalisation norms, and are managed by highly incentivised and professional managers who focus on private markets, not having any potential conflict of interest situations which restrict broad based funds acting for a diverse client base, who are less inclined to aggressive activism. Hedge fund activism is not just directed at different aims, it adopts different strategies and entails higher costs. The involvement in corporate governance is with the objective of gaining control of the board and not just reforming it.   more »