Photographic portrait of Harry St. John Cooper
The definition of “activist investor” today is more wide-ranging than ever, with many traditional investors feeling the need to embrace an activist agenda to effect change.

Harry St. John Cooper

EY Global Shareholder Activism Senior Advisor

Assisting clients in their strategy and messaging. Agent of change where activist engagement should be embraced, not avoided. Looking to find cooperation, not confrontation.

Harry has built an expansive career working with prominent business leaders around the world. His role, and passion, for the shareholder activism ecosystem places him right at the intersection of relationships between boards and the owners of the business, and the broader stakeholder groups.

With his experience in activist investing, he advises boards that may be vulnerable to activist demands, helping them to create and communicate long-term value growth on behalf of all shareholders.

Harry previously worked for a leading hedge fund, specializing in merger arbitrage and activist investing. Before that he was on the sell side with a pre-eminent firm in both London and New York.

He is a qualified chartered accountant and has a degree in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics.

How Harry is building a better working world

Harry has worked tirelessly to evolve how the voices of shareholders are enacted by boards.

His goal is to guide clients to be better prepared to respond to those shareholders who may be overly concerned with short-termism at the expense of broader stakeholder well-being. He believes that the key to success is to draw together individuals from diverse backgrounds and focus their skills on client needs.

In doing so, Harry helps businesses maintain their purpose of delivering long-term value for their shareholders and wider stakeholder groups.

Contact Harry