Quarterly Buy-Side Boardroom Insights | Q1 - 2019
Small-cap CEOs master the issues that institutional investors care most about with Third Creek Advisors – clear, actionable advice from a former small-cap fund manager.
HIGHLIGHTS
SEC Chairman Clayton Referenced My Testimony in His Recent NY Speech Governance "Experts" Need to Change the Way They Speak Some Comments I Shared with WaPo Regarding Elon's Tweeting Three Examples from '18 of How "Better Governed Companies Make More Money" Book Review: Digital Resilience: Is Your Company Ready for the Next Cyber Threat Exclusive Interview with Transformative Small-Cap CEO, Garry Ridge (WD-40 Company) Is Ellison the Best Choice for Tesla? My Thoughts in The Wall Street Journal
Featured Content
SEC Chairman Clayton Referenced My Testimony in His Recent NY Speech
From remarks by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton at Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York, on March 8, 2019:
"...The primary focus of last year’s Roundtable on Market Structure for Thinly-Traded Securities was the particular challenges facing companies and investors in this segment of the market. Roundtable participants presented a wide spectrum of viewpoints, including those of issuers, retail and institutional investors, exchanges, and sell-side firms with expertise in trading less-active securities.
I found the observations of firms that focus on smaller companies to be particularly enlightening. They emphasized that the relative lack of liquidity in the stocks of smaller companies not only affects investors when they trade, but also detracts from the companies’ prospects for success. Illiquidity hampers them in many areas, including in their ability to raise additional capital, obtain research coverage, engage in mergers and acquisitions, and hire and retain personnel."
[See footnote 12 for reference to my firm / testimony]
Featured Content
Governance "Experts" Need to Change the Way They Speak
In the United States, nearly all governance thought leadership is focused on Fortune 1000 companies. The problem is that this content isn’t as applicable to the boardrooms of this country’s other 14,000 public companies as governance experts think. It’s why I’m asking these experts to resolve in 2019 to better tailor their advice to the bulk of public company directors.
Some Comments I Shared with WaPo Regarding Elon's Tweeting
The SEC could ask the judge to increase the $20 million fine Musk has already paid or move to punish the company’s board if they don’t rein him in, said Adam Epstein, a corporate-governance adviser. But SEC is not likely to ask that Musk be removed from the company altogether, as it initially did last year, he said.
“He has a pattern and practice of tweeting in an inflammatory fashion for years,” Epstein said. “He probably knows that the government is not going from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 1 to remove him from the company, because that would be the worst possible outcome for investors. He’s clearly created more value than he’s hurt shareholders by his tweeting."
Featured Content
Three Examples from '18 of How "Better Governed Companies Make More Money"
At the end of every year, I try to pass along to CEOs some of the best examples I came across from the preceding 12 months – examples of how and why better governed companies make more money.
For exclusive buy-side insights from Adam J. Epstein
Book Review
Digital Resilience: Is Your Company Ready for the Next Cyber Threat
The great strength of Digital Resilience is that it’s laid out in a “handbook” style, with scores of “action items” and “takeaways” that foster a pragmatic tone versus an academic one.
Podcast
Exclusive Interview with Transformative Small-Cap CEO, Garry Ridge (WD-40 Company)
Small-Cap Institute's Amanda Gerut interviews WD-40 CEO, Garry Ridge. WD-40 is the product in practically every garage you've ever set foot in. It's used in 80% of American households, but it's also sold in more than 176 countries. Most importantly, Ridge transformed the small-cap from a $250m market cap to $2.5b market cap, and he tells us how he did it.
Media Mention
Is Ellison the Best Choice for Tesla? My Thoughts in The Wall Street Journal
"Larry Ellison is a business icon, but smart investors will probably ask a handful of questions," said Adam Epstein, head of corporate governance consultants Third Creek Advisors, including, "If this is yet another 'friend' of Elon's, how does that help me as an investor?" Mr. Epstein also questioned whether Mr. Ellison, who is also Oracle's chief technology officer, has the time to devote to his duties as a Tesla director.
Third Creek Advisors
How We Can Help Your Company
An overview of Third Creek’s founder, Adam J. Epstein, and its value proposition: Third Creek is the only small-cap advisory firm run by a former institutional investor.
