Forensic Activist Strategy
Buxton Helmsley Active Fund
The Buxton Helmsley Active Fund is a concentrated, long-oriented activist hedge fund that applies forensic expertise and securities law fluency—accelerated by AI-enhanced processes—to identify public companies where accounting failures, disclosure deficiencies, or governance breakdowns (which, many times spill over into operations) have created significant mispricings and opportunities. We engage constructively with company leadership to address those issues and unlock shareholder value. When constructive dialogue is met with inaction, we escalate—and our track record of doing so gives our outreach a credibility that most managers spend decades building.
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Fund Strategy
Concentrated Portfolio
Targeting 8–15 positions for deep engagement
North America & Europe
Primarily U.S.-listed equities
12–24 Months
Patient capital for full value realization
Predominantly Long
Constructive engagement with highly selective short exposure
An Underserved Market
Of the roughly 5,000 publicly traded companies in the United States, fewer than 200 are targeted by activist campaigns in any given year—and only a handful of those activists bring genuine forensic accounting expertise to the work. The result is a large, structurally underserved market segment where securities violations, poor financial reporting, and governance breakdowns suppress shareholder value with limited external accountability.
Most activist capital is concentrated at the top of the market. Mega-funds focus on targets above $5 billion in market capitalization, where reputation and scale alone drive change—they are not structured to identify or act on technical securities law violations at mid- and small-cap companies. Operational activists excel at margin improvement and strategic repositioning, but typically lack the forensic capabilities to detect Regulation S-X violations, insider trading disclosure failures, or concealed asset impairment. Short-sellers may expose fraud, but they rarely engage boards, pursue governance changes, or proactively protect shareholders the way a long-oriented activist does.
Buxton Helmsley operates in the gap between all three. Our forensic methodology—combining CPA-level accounting analysis with securities law fluency developed over years of campaigns—allows us to identify opportunities that traditional activists miss entirely. And because our approach is constructive by default, companies that engage with us stand to benefit from improved compliance, stronger governance, and a more accurate market valuation. Those that don’t respond to constructive engagement find themselves facing a counterparty with the technical precision, institutional infrastructure, and willingness to escalate that the situation requires.
From Sourcing to Value Realization
Every investment follows a structured four-phase process designed to identify, validate, engage, and resolve the issues suppressing shareholder value.
Sourcing
We identify opportunities through AI-enhanced screening of public filings, pattern recognition from prior campaigns, and systematic tracking of corporate officers, directors, and auditors whose professional histories intersect with prior accounting, disclosure, and/or other failures. Whistleblowers and market participants also bring situations to the firm directly.
Diligence
We conduct deep forensic analysis of public filings, disclosures, and financial risk areas. We map the applicable governance structure and available investor rights, formulate initial recommendations, and initiate private dialogue with company leadership. Capital is deployed only after risks have been thoroughly assessed.
Engagement
We deploy private and public correspondence, regulatory referrals, board meetings, and—where necessary—proxy contests, calibrated to the company’s response. Our preference is always to resolve issues before escalation becomes necessary. But we do not hesitate to escalate when the situation demands it.
Resolution
We secure governance enhancements through cooperation agreements, support company-led remediation efforts, and monitor implementation through ongoing engagement—including through board representatives, where applicable.
AI-Enhanced, Expert-Validated
Technology accelerates every phase of our work—from sourcing to execution. AI-enhanced platforms allow us to screen thousands of public filings for potential reporting and disclosure violations in hours rather than weeks, and pattern-matching capabilities built from prior campaigns help surface situations that would otherwise take months of manual review to identify. Once a campaign is underway, proprietary tools help us track developments, model outcomes, and calibrate our engagement strategy in real time.
But technology is only as good as the judgment behind it. AI frequently produces false positives and cannot evaluate context, intent, or legal significance on its own. Every finding—whether surfaced during diligence or generated during an active engagement—is validated by our team before it shapes a decision. Identifying a potential issue is only the first step; acting on it requires a platform for engagement, a working command of securities law and corporate governance, and the willingness to pursue claims against public companies. That combination is what defines our edge, and it compounds with every campaign we complete.
Select Case Studies
Accountability. Strategy. Results.
Fossil Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL)
shareholder return within two years of securing board representation
Chairman and CEO resigned after twenty years at the helm. CFO departure followed. Successful turnaround underway.
Mallinckrodt plc (formerly NYSE: MNK)
within two quarters of exposing recurring fraud
Filed for bankruptcy a second time after our exposure of a repeating accounting fraud scheme. SEC subsequently brought enforcement action, validating the allegations we had raised publicly.
Daily Journal Corporation (NASDAQ: DJCO)
shareholder return within seven months of commencing campaign
Exposed years-long failure to disclose software R&D investment figures in violation of Regulation S-X. CFO departed after AICPA guidance confirmed allegations of ASC 985-20 violations. Board investigation launched. The company is now disclosing software research and development expenses for the first time in its history.
Endo International plc (formerly NASDAQ: ENDP)
within two quarters of exposing violations and over $2B in concealed asset depreciation
Over $2B in intangible asset losses disclosed after transparency was demanded publicly. Bankruptcy filed less than one month later, with a $450M opioid settlement accelerated.
The case studies above reflect activist campaigns conducted by The Buxton Helmsley Group, Inc. from 2022 through 2024, all of which were overseen, managed, and executed under the leadership of Alexander E. Parker, the Company’s Chairman and CEO. Buxton Helmsley, Inc. intends to continue the investment strategy developed and executed by Mr. Parker. Prospective investors should not assume the Company will achieve similar results and should refer to the offering documents for a complete discussion of risks and track record attribution.
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Learn how our approach to forensic analysis, active ownership, and corporate engagement drives long-term value creation for investors across market environments.
This page is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Any such offer will be made only by means of a confidential private placement memorandum and only to qualified investors in jurisdictions where permitted by law. Past performance is not indicative of future results. An investment in the fund involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of the entire investment. The securities described herein have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and are being offered in reliance on exemptions from registration.