(Reuters) - Hedge fund Elliott Management Corp Chief Executive Paul Singer said on Thursday he agreed with billionaire investor Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase & Co (N:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon that companies should move away from providing quarterly earnings guidance.
"The main point was that they thought that quarterly guidance should be reduced or eliminated in an effort to make a net subtraction of short-termism in the corporate governance landscape. I happen to agree with that, my team agrees with that," Singer told The Deal's annual corporate governance conference in New York.
Buffett, who is chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (N:BRKa), and Dimon wrote in a Wall Street Journal column on Thursday that the pressure to meet short-term estimates has contributed to a fall in the number of U.S. public companies.
Companies often hold back spending on technology, hiring and research and development to meet quarterly earnings guidance that may be affected by factors outside the company's control, they wrote.
Elliott often acquires stakes in companies as an activist shareholder, criticizing their financial performance and asking them to commit to changes.