The impact of investment funds on restructuring practices and employment levels

Though small in comparison with other institutional investors, investment funds have significant direct influence on companies. This has lead to heated debates regarding their impact on restructuring practices, employment levels and industrial relations at the firms they invest in. This report examines whether investment funds - in particular, private equity, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds - help to revive underperforming companies and thereby contribute to employment growth or whether, on the contrary, they strive to maximise financial returns at the expense of labour. Overall, the report concludes that investment funds are neither wholly 'bad' nor wholly 'good' with regard to the impact on labour in their invested firms. However, for a more in-depth evaluation, longitudinal data comparing fund cases with appropriate non-fund cases is required.