Okapi raids ISS for Aicardi as proxy contest volume climbs 30% year-over-year

Okapi Partners hired Davide Aicardi, a former executive at Institutional Shareholder Services, to expand its proxy advisory capacity as the 2025 proxy season tracks toward the busiest activist year since 2021. The firm announced the appointment without disclosing title or compensation, a pattern consistent with mid-tier solicitation shops competing for advisory talent during a period when proxy contests rose 30% in 2024 versus prior year, according to Lazard's fourth-quarter activism review.

Aicardi spent over a decade at ISS, where he advised institutional investors on governance and proxy voting strategy. His move follows a broader pattern of talent migration from the two dominant proxy advisors—ISS and Glass Lewis—into the solicitation and advisory sector, where fees have climbed alongside contest frequency. Okapi, a smaller shop relative to D.F. King and Innisfree, has been building out its European and activist-defense practices since 2022, when it opened a London office and hired two former Georgeson associates. The Aicardi hire suggests the firm is positioning for cross-border mandates, where ISS relationships and institutional familiarity carry more weight than brand scale.

The timing matters. Proxy contests in the first quarter of 2025 are running 18% above the five-year average, driven by energy transition disputes, governance fights at mid-cap technology firms, and a resurgence of pension-fund activism in Europe. Solicitors with deep institutional networks—particularly at public pensions and sovereign wealth funds—are now commanding retainers 40% to 60% higher than pre-2023 levels, according to fee schedules reviewed by Markets Edge. Aicardi's ISS pedigree gives Okapi credibility with allocators who view proxy advisors as quasi-regulators, a perception that matters when vote margins tighten below 5% and recount mechanics become material.

The hire also signals a structural shift in how solicitation firms compete. For years, the business model centered on vote-counting mechanics and shareholder contact—operational work that scaled with contest volume. Now, as activism becomes more technical and governance disputes require regulatory fluency, solicitors are adding advisory layers that blur the line between execution and strategy. Aicardi's background in ESG and governance policy positions Okapi to pitch defense mandates at boards facing shareholder proposals on climate, executive pay, and dual-class structures, where ISS recommendations often decide outcomes.

Allocators should watch whether Okapi uses the Aicardi hire to pursue retainer-based advisory contracts rather than contest-specific mandates, a shift that would signal confidence in sustained activism volume. The next test comes in April, when the spring AGM calendar peaks and vote results reveal whether institutional investors are leaning more heavily on proxy advisor guidance or conducting independent analysis. If ISS recommendation-Follower rates drop below 70%—the threshold where independent vote analysis becomes economically rational—solicitors with ISS alumni will have an edge in explaining divergence to boards and activists alike.

Okapi has not disclosed whether Aicardi will focus on defense or activist-side work. That ambiguity is itself a signal: solicitors who maintain optionality across both sides of a contest typically operate in markets where client conflicts are minimal and contest volume is high enough to support specialization without limiting deal flow.