Hedge Fund Activist Target Drift
In plain terms
When a hedge-fund activist (Elliott, Pershing, Starboard, etc.) discloses a brand-new stake in a company for the first time, the stock typically drifts upward for 2-3 months as the market prices in expected operational or governance changes.
How it works
Narrower than the existing activist_13d_drift family (#163): filters investor_filings to hedge-fund-style activists (Elliott, Pershing Square, Starboard, etc.) and only emits a signal when the filing is genuinely new for that investor on this ticker (no prior filing in 365 days). BJPT 2008 document the ~7% drift over 60-90 days post-disclosure.
Data dependencies
- Daily prices
Adjusted-close OHLCV for every US-listed ticker; primary price feed.
- Investor holdings
A data feed this strategy reads, refreshed on its normal schedule.
- Investor filings
A data feed this strategy reads, refreshed on its normal schedule.
- Tracked investors
A data feed this strategy reads, refreshed on its normal schedule.
Expected edge
- Reported return
- ~7% over 60-90d (BJPT 2008)
- Tested over
- T+1 to T+90d
~7% over 60-90d on first-time activist disclosures (BJPT 2008).
Example tickers where this is likely to fire
Illustrative only, the signal fires based on the live data, not a fixed list.
Related families
When 2+ different activists file 13D on the same stock within 60 days, the pile-on signal is stronger than a single activist alone.
Activist-targeted stocks beat their sector for ~12 months, then give some back as the activist exits — we ride both legs as a pair-trade.
Explore Hedge Fund Activist Target Drift on alphactor.ai
See which tickers this family is currently firing on, with live signals and rankings.