Comerica’s Sale to Fifth Third Is a Rare Win for Bank Activists

Activist investing doesn’t have a great track record in the banking sector. In 2021, Edward Bramson sold his 6% stake in Barclays Plc after three years of agitating. A few months later, Cerberus Capital Management LP gave up on an attempt to encourage a merger between Deutsche Bank AG and Commerzbank AG, crystallizing a loss of around €400 million ($467 million) on its holdings. Ping An Insurance Group similarly failed in its campaign for HSBC Holdings Plc to spin off its Asian operations.

Dan Davies, a former regulator and analyst and now an author, has a succinct explanation: “The real problem is that bank profitability is 50% macro and 40% decisions taken five years ago.” That doesn’t leave much for activists to agitate over.