Investors Recovered $7B in 2024: What Did We Learn? [On-Demand Webinar]
Last year, shareholders recouped more than $7 billion from a mix of securities class actions, antitrust cases, and global litigation – a busy year that offered several important lessons about where the market may be headed.
So, what challenges and opportunities should institutional investors have on their radars? That’s exactly what FRT detailed during a live presentation on 2025 Shareholder Recovery Trends, providing analysis of claims scrutiny in U.S. recovery efforts, our evolving views toward the non-U.S. landscape, and much more.
Keep reading for a few key takeaways from our in-house legal team. For additional color, investors should download the full session recording here.
1. Greater Scrutiny of U.S. Class Action Claims
FRT has written extensively about submission requirements for SEC Fair Funds. However, our internal data shows that the deficiency process is also becoming more challenging in U.S. securities class actions, particularly as it relates to trade substantiation document requests.
Although the shift in class action claim survival is not as dramatic as what investors have seen with Fair Funds, there is a clear and meaningful trend taking shape across both areas of the market.
Claims are only paid if they survive deficiency challenges. That reality is amplified when records either don’t exist or are difficult to obtain. In response, FRT has continued to invest in:
- Alternative strategies for proving claim eligibility
- Technology that makes third-party documentation retrieval more automated
2. An Active U.S. Landscape
New U.S. securities class action filings and settlements both increased from the prior year in 2024, as did the total settlement dollars tracked by FRT. However, we did not see any individual settlements exceed $1 billion in fund value, as we have in prior years.
Instead, we saw a collection of new settlements fall in the $100 million to $500 million range. These included several well-known Big Tech issuers, one SEC Fair Fund, and two breach of fiduciary duty cases in Delaware’s Court of Chancery (Scusa and Warner Bros. Discovery).
U.S. disbursements dipped slightly in 2024 but remained squarely within the 5-year historic range, led by a $1 billion Dell Technologies case that also originated from Delaware.
3. Making the Right Non-U.S. Registration Decisions
Over the course of several years, global shareholder litigation has steadily more complex and nuanced. From competing case organizers to changing laws, FRT is encouraging investors to prioritize cases with the best balance of recovery potential and fewer participation burdens.
In particular, our team has emphasized the following when working with global clients:
- Set appropriate loss thresholds and smart governance policies. By developing “rules of the road” to guide a firm’s participation decisions, you are more likely to avoid cases that require significant involvement or offer limited chances of success. In general, consider which jurisdictions are most favorable to group shareholder litigation and which typically carry greater participation risks.
- Evaluate your options when choosing case organizers. The language and structure of funding agreements can vary greatly, as can the complexity of registration documents. It’s important to understand what each organizer is offering and, when possible, attempt to negotiate better terms.
Access the Full Recording & Presentation Materials
The takeaways above only scratch the surface of what FRT presented to live attendees. Request the on-demand recording or the presentation materials below for more detailed insights, such as:
- Proprietary analysis of a recent SEC Fair Fund distribution (and what it means for investors)
- Why Delaware state court continues to emerge as a key venue for shareholder recoveries
- An update on recent U.S. antitrust settlements and disbursements