ValueAct Capital Management, L.P.

Reported price is calculated from the reported value and share count. It is not the investor's actual purchase price.

“We invest for the long term in high quality companies, offering data driven insights to managers and directors whom we view as partners.”ValueAct Capital’s stated investment philosophy

ValueAct Capital is a San Francisco-based investment firm founded in June 2000 by Jeffrey Ubben, George Hamel and Peter Kamin. It was created to make concentrated, long-term strategic-block investments in a limited number of public companies and to participate actively in their value creation. Mason Morfit joined the firm in 2001, became Chief Investment Officer in 2017 and succeeded Ubben as Chief Executive Officer in 2020. Rob Hale was promoted to Co-CEO in 2023, creating the current leadership structure in which Morfit remains Co-CEO and CIO while Hale plays a particularly important role in the firm’s Japanese investments.

ValueAct occupies a distinctive position between conventional value investing, private equity and shareholder activism. It acquires significant stakes in high-quality businesses whose long-term potential is obscured by weak operating performance, strategic uncertainty, organizational complexity, management transitions or unfavorable industry perceptions. The firm then combines intensive fundamental research with private engagement, data-driven analysis and, when useful, board representation. Unlike more confrontational activists, ValueAct generally seeks to influence companies without immediately publishing demands or threatening proxy contests.

Its advantage is accumulated corporate experience. ValueAct has made more than 120 core investments and served on more than 45 public-company boards. These engagements allow the team to compare how companies manage technological transitions, pricing, cost structures, mergers, capital allocation, management succession and corporate crises. Core positions are generally held for three to five years and occasionally for more than a decade.

Microsoft, Adobe, Olympus and Salesforce illustrate the method. ValueAct recognized the strategic value of Microsoft’s enterprise franchise before its cloud transformation was fully reflected in the share price; supported Adobe during its economically disruptive transition toward subscriptions; participated in Olympus’s shift toward a more focused global medical-technology company; and gained a board seat at Salesforce during a period of margin and capital-allocation reform. These cases demonstrate an ability to understand business-model transitions rather than simply demand cost reductions.

The record also contains important failures. ValueAct’s long involvement with Valeant exposed the firm to serious governance, leverage and business-model risks, while its public campaign at Seven & i failed to elect any of its proposed directors. Board access can improve information and influence, but it can also create excessive confidence in management or in the investor’s ability to produce change.

ValueAct qualifies as a super investor because it combines concentrated capital, long holding periods, strategic business analysis and a demonstrated ability to influence major corporations. It has also completed a credible transition from a founder-led fund to an institutional partnership. However, Morfit is not the sole decision-maker: ValueAct is now co-led by Morfit and Hale and supported by a broader investment team.

• ValueAct Capital — Official Website ↗
• ValueAct Capital — Official Investment Philosophy and Firm Overview ↗
• Affiliated Managers Group — ValueAct Capital Profile ↗