By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON, (Reuters) – Bank of America (NYSE) was voted the best financial advisor to target companies by activist investors for 2021. According to data from Refinitiv published Tuesday, Bank of America jumped past three competitors to take the top spot.

Bank of America advised in 2021 on 35 more campaigns than the 28 that were reported last year.

Last year’s 186 campaigns were handled by the top nine advisers. This is roughly equal to the number of campaigns they did in 2020, when activism was curtailed by the pandemic. In 2019, activists targeted only 197 companies.

Last year, activists attacked ExxonMobil’s (NYSE:) Duke Energy (NASDAQ:), International Flavors and Fragrances (NYSE:), LabCorp and Dollar Tree, among other things.

Goldman Sachs, (NYSE:), which was the number one financial advisor in 2019 and 2020 according to Refinitiv data, dropped to the third place with 33 campaigns. Goldman managed 52 campaigns for 2020.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: ) moved to second with 34 campaigns, an increase from the 29 shown in 2020.

JP Morgan was a consultant on 30 campaigns. This is a sharp increase from the 9 campaigns it advised in 2020. It helped JP Morgan rise from eighth to fifth.

Spotlight Advisors is a company that works with activists and companies. It took fourth place in the rankings, having advised 32 campaigns. This was roughly the same number as 2020, when Spotlight Advisors had 33 campaigns.

Many providers create league tables which are used often to attract new clients. However, they rarely tell all the story. Bankers point out that many businesses hide their activities from activists and then ask their advisors not to reveal their involvement.

Elliott Management remained the most active activist and launched 14 campaigns in 2018, up from 16 in 2020. Jana Partners launched 8 campaigns last year, up from the 5 that Jana Partners had in 2020.

Olshan Frome Wolosky had the highest number of law firms, with 85 legal engagements on behalf activists. Vinson & Elkins LLP, which handled 40 campaigns, including one for an activist, was No. 2. Sidley Austin LLP ranked number three with 36 campaigns. One of these was for an activist.

Innisfree, Morrow Sodali and Innisfree were top proxy solicitors.