doubt (4)

What people do not realise, according to the authors of a new book, is that these institutions are simply holding the assets on behalf of ordinary savers - so millions of people hold tiny stakes in companies through their pension funds and endowment plans.

In The New Capitalists, to be published this week, activist fund manager David Pitt-Watson and his co-authors argue that if people were to use their ownership power, it could create a new 'civil economy', to bridge the divides between workers, company boards and shareholders.

'It's a realisation by everybody that they're not just citizens and workers, but they're shareholders: they're capitalists as well,' says Pitt-Watson, for many years managing director of Hermes, which runs a number of large pension funds, including BT's.

1/ What are the meaning of endowment plans, activist, company boards and BT's here?

2/ Is activist an adjective or a noun?

3/ What is the meaning of people were to use here? Could you explian me the structure of be+to-infinitive here?

Quoc