Milwaukee-based payments and financial technology company Fiserv Inc. should conduct a comprehensive strategic review of its entire portfolio and implement board changes to address persistent governance issues, activist investor JANA Partners Management LP says.
In a July 30 letter sent to the Fiserv Board of Directors, JANA Partners said it supports the company’s reported decision to explore a sale of its debit network assets, but called on the board to go even further with a formal review of all of Fiserv’s products and services, and to add more board members to address ongoing concerns regarding stewardship.
“While we remain supportive of Fiserv’s turnaround plan, management turnover and continued missteps have widened Fiserv’s discount to its intrinsic value,” wrote Scott Ostfeld, managing partner and portfolio manager at JANA Partners Management. “We believe divestitures would significantly reduce that discount while at the same time help restore credibility with investors.”
A Fiserv spokesman told Reuters that the company is “executing with urgency and discipline” and remains confident in its strategy, client relationships, platforms, and ability to create long-term value.
New York City-based JANA Partners started investing in Fiserv in late 2025, and currently owns 4.4 million shares in the processor company, or almost 1 percent of Fiserv’s equity.
Ostfeld pointed out that following a “highly tumultuous” period for Fiserv that saw an earnings reset and a nearly 80 percent decline in its stock price from its 2025 highs, JANA Partners invested in the company on the basis that a turnaround could return it to its “historical compounder model.”
There is significant untapped value embedded in Fiserv’s portfolio of assets, he added, many of which would command a value well in excess of where Fiserv trades in the public market.
“Given Fiserv’s large and diverse collection of assets, we are convinced that a comprehensive review, rather than a piecemeal, asset-by-asset approach, is the best way to unlock value,” wrote Ostfeld.
At the same time, while JANA Partners has supported recent board changes at Fiserv, Ostfeld wrote that they have “unfortunately proven insufficient to remediate the company’s governance issues.”
“Recent failures in executive talent retention and attraction, including allowing senior executives to tie their own employment agreements to the continued service of the CEO, have further damaged the board’s standing with investors,” he wrote. “As such, we believe the company requires further board change.”
Media reports have said JANA Partners’ letter follows news in early July that a consortium of large banks — which includes JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and PNC Financial Services Group — has held tentative discussions with Fiserv about a debit-network deal.