When Congress enacted the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995 ("PSLRA"), the Act's "lead plaintiff" provision was the centerpiece of its efforts to increase investor control over securities fraud class actions. The lead plaintiff provision alters the balance of power between investors and class counsel by creating a presumption that the investor with the largest financial stake in the case will serve as lead plaintiff. The lead plaintiff then chooses class counsel and, at least in theory, negotiates the terms of counsel's compensation.Congress's stated purpose in enacting the lead plaintiff provision was to encourage institutional investors-pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, etc.-to come forward to serve as lead plaintiff. The theory was that

Using a dataset of proxy recommendations and voting results for