By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Jana Partners wants payments company Fiserv FISV.O to sell additional assets and appoint new directors with banking software and payments experience, the activist investor said on Tuesday.

After months of private discussions with the company, Jana is now for the first time sharing its plans for the company. Speaking at Wolfe Research's annual Activist Conference, Jana's managing partner Scott Ostfeld said he believes Fiserv should aggressively pursue non-core divestitures.

"Fiserv is in the early innings of rehabilitating its credibility with customers and investors," Ostfeld said. "We believe further portfolio reshaping and expanding the board's refreshment process to add relevant experience would speed the credibility rebuilding process and lead to a re-rating of the stock."

Fiserv's stock price has tumbled nearly 70% in the last 12 months and Tuesday marks the first time Ostfeld has discussed the investment publicly since buying in late last year.

The New York-based hedge fund, one of the industry's most successful activists, first invested in the Milwaukee-headquartered company in late 2025 following a 60% drop in Fiserv's share price. The company, which provides fintech services to banks, credit unions and merchants, has seen its stock price drop nearly 20% in 2026 and it closed trading at $52.72 on Monday.

During the first quarter, Jana nearly doubled its investment in Fiserv to own just under 1%, making the hedge fund one of the company's top 20 investors. Fiserv has a market valuation of $28 billion.

A representative for the company was not immediately available for comment.

Ostfeld stopped short of calling for a broader breakup of the company, but noted this might be an attractive option in the future if the company's valuation does not improve.

Jana supports Chief Executive Mike Lyons, who was appointed to the top job in May 2025, and his efforts to rebuild the company's credibility.

The firm also believes Fiserv is in a unique position to help banks and credit unions adopt artificial intelligence tools in their own businesses, including through a recently announced collaboration with OpenAI.

Last month, Fiserv said it partnered with Bridgeport Partners to form a joint venture spinning off its ATM managed services, cash logistics and MoneyPass networks. It also sold its Education Solutions student loan servicing business to Infinite Computer Solutions.

Jana has experience in the financial services sector and in 2023 successfully pushed Fiserv competitor Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) to separate its Worldpay payments business.

Currently the hedge fund is pushing for a big share buyback and breakup at holding company Markel Group MKL.N and a sale of digital banking platform Alkami Technology ALKT.O.

Activist investors have increasingly called for companies to sell some of their businesses or the entire company in the last months, industry analysts have said, at a time the pace of mergers and acquisitions is picking up and bankers are preparing for more activity in the second half of the year.