Activist stampede pushes board directors into shareholders' arms

A few days after joining the board of Atlantic Power, private equity veteran Gilbert Palter said he got a flurry of calls from the energy company's top shareholders, who wanted more than just to wish him well.

"They wanted to hear my perspective on the company. And they wanted to bend my ear with their own thoughts," said Palter, co-founder of EdgeStone Capital Partners in Toronto. He said he's mindful of not speaking for the company but rather as a member of the board.

The rising power of activist shareholders has added a new responsibility to the role of board director at a publicly traded company: investor relations.