June 1 (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Toms Capital Investment Management on Monday urged Voya Financial to explore strategic options, including a potential sale, arguing the insurance and investment management company continues to trade at a discount to peers.
Toms Capital, one of Voya's largest shareholders, said in a letter to the company's board that its “persistent underperformance” and trading discount were driven by "management’s strategic indecisiveness and diminished credibility."
Voya Financial
did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Shares of Voya have risen about 9% this year, giving it a market capitalization of roughly $7.36 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Shares of peers Principal Financial Group and Franklin Resources were up 17.5% and 29.9% respectively in the same period.
Voya oversees about $1.1 trillion in assets under management and administration, according to its website.
Toms Capital in the letter said it continued to view Voya as a strong financial services company, whose retirement and investment management businesses have grown net assets and outperformed rivals.
The activist investor said several asset managers that could be logical acquirers had signaled interest in deals and described their target profile in terms that map closely to Voya.
(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava and Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
