Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWIT) has called a meeting of shareholders on 20 January as its chair once again urges them to reject an approach by New York hedge fund Saba Capital Management.
The Baillie Gifford managed trust is battling Saba’s call to remove the current board and appoint Saba’s nominees to improve performance.
The EWIT board cites Saba’s potential to prioritise its own commercial interests and fundamentally change the company’s investment strategy, which has recently delivered a NAV total return of 20.5% over 12 months, outperforming its benchmark.
Shareholders are urged to vote by 17 January “to protect the trust’s unique portfolio of disruptive companies and its current strategy.”
Jonathan Simpson-Dent, who chairs EWIT, says in a letter to shareholders: “Once again, Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust is at risk.
“For the second time inside a year, Saba, a US hedge fund manager, has launched an assault on your investment trust by seeking to remove your entire independent board and replace it with three US-based nominees of its own choosing, effectively handing control of your company to Saba.”
He adds: “Ten months ago, you were given a clear choice: the continuation of Edinburgh Worldwide, with its unique mandate that gives shareholders access to an exciting global portfolio of disruptive and transformative companies positioned for long-term growth; or hand the investment trust over to Saba to prioritise its own commercial interests, including appointing itself as investment manager (therefore benefitting from associated fees) and changing the investment strategy.”
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