The Children's Investment Fund Management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Children’s Investment Fund Management (UK) LLP (TCI) is a London‐based hedge fund founded by Chris Hohn in 2003 which manages The Children’s Investment Master Fund. TCI makes long‐term investments in companies globally. The management company is authorized and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority.
Like most hedge funds, TCI requires investors to commit their capital for multi-year periods. This long-term horizon allows the fund greater flexibility when trading and investing capital independent of any potential ad-hoc time constraints.
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[edit] Chris Hohn
Born in Addlestone, Surrey in 1967, Chris Hohn is the son of a car mechanic who emigrated to Britain from Jamaica in 1960. Hohn graduated from Southampton University and went on to get his MBA from Harvard Business School.
[edit] Charity
TCI derives its name from a charitable foundation called The Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), set up by Chris Hohn and his wife, Jamie Cooper-Hohn. In an example of "venture philanthropy", CIFF receives a portion of TCI’s profits and other donations. CIFF focuses on improving the lives of children living in poverty in developing countries, and has grown to be one of the largest charities in the United Kingdom.
[edit] Investor activism
TCI has a reputation for aggressive shareholder activism.[1] Some critics believe that it has taken an active role in most situations to promote its own agenda under the guise of sound corporate governance and increase shareholder value. TCI has been a major shareholder of the German stock exchange Deutsche Börse where it forced the resignation of the CEO after he refused to abandon his plan to take over the London Stock Exchange. In 2007, after acquiring 1% of the shares of major Dutch bank ABN AMRO, TCI led an attack demanding the bank split up or sell to the highest bidder to produce shareholder value.[2] . ABN was ultimately split and sold to Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Fortis and Banco Santander and was a major contributing factor in the downfall of both RBS and Fortis. In June 2007, TCI failed in its attempt to get the Japanese utility J-Power, in which it had acquired a 10% stake, to boost its dividend. The general meeting of shareholders rejected the proposal, prompting a severe selloff in the stock.
In 2006, as a shareholder of both Mittal Steel Company and Arcelor, TCI supported Mittal Steel in the company's unsolicited takeover offer for Arcelor. However, when Mittal Steel subsequently attempted to acquire Arcelor Brasil (one of Arcelor's subsidiaries) without an appropriate premium, TCI defended the rights of Arcelor Brasil’s minority shareholders, causing Mittal to raise its offer price more than 55%.
[edit] References
- ^ Businessweek—A Little Fund With Big Demands
- ^ NRC Handelsblad (Dutch Newspaper), February 22, 2007
[edit] External links
[edit] Articles
- Financial Times: Feared fund turns to business of charity By James Mackintosh July 2 2007
- Management Today: The new new philanthropists by Ian Wylie October 1 2007
- Spectator: The real driving force in the battle for ABN by Matthew Lynn May 9 2007
- Financial News: Financial News 100, 2007
- The Economist: Leader of the swarm July 12 2007
- The Independent: Financier in record £230m donation to charity by Arifa Akbar July 3 2007
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