It is hard to know how to refer to Qatar Holding, which steered the outcome of the Glenstrata merger vote and has just sold warrants equivalent to 3 per cent of Barclays. The $100bn sovereign wealth fund does not like being called an activist, preferring “active investor”. But that term has already been claimed by stockpicking asset managers. Generally these earnest types do not make big, market-moving calls under full public scrutiny.
Qatar does. Its intervention in the $70bn merger of Glencore and Xstrata squeezed a better price from the Swiss commodities trader and indirectly triggered the resignation of the miner’s chairman. Nor did the wealth fund strictly need to sell its warrants to reduce exposure to Barclays.
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