Allison Bennington

Allison Bennington is a Senior Advisor and former Partner with PJT Partners, a U.S. investment bank, where she Chaired PJT’s Activism Defense practice and led its ESG Sustainability & Transition Advisory practice. She is based in London. Ms. Bennington advises C-Suites and Board Chairs of some of the largest international companies on navigating complex strategic issues and event-driven crises. Drawing on her successful, 17-year career as an Activist investor, she provides expert insight into overcoming an ever-more testing environment, whether challenges stem from Activist investors, investor discontent, governance, ESG, reputational issues or regulatory headwinds. She is also active in the Space Economy as an investor, mentor, and Sustainability expert.

Prior to joining PJT Partners, Ms. Bennington was a Partner and the Chief Global Relations Officer at ValueAct Capital, a $14 billion activist investment fund that works constructively with its portfolio companies to build sustainable value for the long‐term. Over her 17-year tenure, Ms. Bennington led ValueAct’s global strategy and engagement efforts for over 50 activist campaigns, with a near 100% success rate, including with companies such as Microsoft, CBRE, 21st Century Fox and Rolls-Royce Plc. As Chief Global Relations Officer, she was also responsible for ValueAct’s Legal, Regulatory, Government Relations, Communications, and certain Risk Management functions.

Before joining ValueAct Capital, Ms. Bennington held General Counsel roles at a variety of financial services companies in the UK and US. Ms. Bennington began her career as a corporate finance and M&A lawyer in London, New York and San Francisco.

Ms. Bennington is a member of the Advisory Board of the Business School of Imperial College London, the Advancement Committee of the Board of Trustees of The National Geographic Society, a Trustee of The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute, and a member of the American Legal Institute. She was a Member of the SEC’s Investor Advisory Committee and on its Market Structure and Investor as Owner Subcommittees, where she authored multiple recommendations to the SEC’s Commissioners. Ms. Bennington is a former member of the Advisory Board of the Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance, the Institute of Corporate Governance and Finance at the NYU School of Law, and the Berkeley Center for Law, Business and Economics, as well as the Business in Society Institute at the University of California Berkeley School of Law. Ms. Bennington received her undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley and her J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law.