In a HedgeCo story today;-- According to a survey of leading IPO attorneys by Gavin Anderson & Company, respondents generally dismissed the idea that shareholder activism by hedge funds and other institutional investors made U.S. markets less attractive for issuers.

Gavin Anderson & Company, an international financial- communications advisory firm, interviewed U.S. attorneys who represented issuers on almost $11 billion of U.S. initial public offerings last year, including some of the year's largest transactions. They said the public is "discouraged by the cost of meeting U.S. regulations and accounting standards, companies planning initial public offerings are likely to turn to overseas markets, threatening to further erode the market position of U.S. stock exchanges"