Activist investors of all stripes cultivate large institutions. From the largest hedge funds at megacap companies to the smallest ones at microcaps, an investor with at most a small percent of a company's shares finds itself persuading asset managers and pension funds of the wisdom of its plan for a given company. 

Even a luminary such as Nelson Peltz needed personally and repeatedly to pitch his ideas for DuPont to PMs and proxy departments at numerous mutual funds and pension funds. Long ago we suggested that contact with other shareholders remains the single most important step for an activist investor. 

What do recent events reveal about how these institutional investors think about activist investors?

Public statements and proxy contest votes indicate that activist investors still need to work hard to win support from these investors. Asset managers remain corporate, aligned with CEOs and BoDs. Pension funds don't always trust activist investors, and question their motives. In the same spirit that we urge activist investors to not wait for ISS and Glass Lewis, investors should consider carefully how well they work with big institutional investors these days.