# Professor Roy Smith weighs in on activist investor ValueAct's stake in Morgan Stanley

1 Faculty News August 29, 2016 ![Financial Times logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/uat_025699.jpg?itok=5SpaxEbn)>

Excerpt from the [Financial Times](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a17febda-6aa2-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f.html?siteedition=intl#axzz4Ij7xYXVi) -- "If ValueAct gets traction, other management teams should stand ready to defend themselves, \[Prof. [Roy Smith](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/roy-smith)\] says. He adds that for too long the entire US banking sector has been 'adrift', failing to address one fundamental question. 'If you’re in a business where your cost of capital is greater than your return, someone should ask you, 'why is this a viable business?'"

[Read more](http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a17febda-6aa2-11e6-a0b1-d87a9fea034f.html?siteedition=intl#axzz4Ij7xYXVi)