Investment trust rejects hedge fund assault ending Saba saga
Shareholders of a major investment trust have roundly rejected a move by hedge fund tycoon Boaz Weinstein’s Saba to force through a radical shake-up of its leadership and investment philosophy.
At a crunch Requisitioned General Meeting, Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (Ewit) investors representing some 93 per cent of shares – excluding those held by Saba Capital – voted to reject resolutions made by the activist fund.
The resolutions tabled by Saba, which is Ewit’s largest shareholder, included removing the entire board and appointing independent directors approved by the fund.
Of the total votes cast, 53.2 per cent of shares voted against Saba’s resolutions, in line with the recommendation by the current board. Over 70 per cent of the total share capital voted on the resolutions, a record turnout, the board said in a statement.
Vote ends Saba Ewit campaign
The vote extinguishes the latest attempt by Weinstein’s Saba to wrestle control of a trust, little more than a year on from the activist fund first taking up large stakes in heavily discounted trusts to push through reforms to their governance and decision-making.
Between 2024 and 2025, he proposed a string of radical resolutions at meetings at nine closed-end funds, many of which were roundly rejected by investors after a fierce rearguard action from the investment trust sector.
Saba was able to reach a settlement with others – or pushed for their conversion into a tracker fund. And in five instances, trusts offered shareholders the opportunity to sell their shares at ‘net asset value’ – the rate at which shares in a trust should be trading based on the value of their portfolio.
“For the second time in less than a year, Edinburgh Worldwide’s shareholders have voted decisively to reject Saba’s proposal to install its own nominees to the Board and the uncertainty that would have entailed,” said Jonathan Simpson-Dent, chair of Ewit.
“Shareholders have clearly stated their preference for EWIT’s unique and differentiated mandate, investing in some of the world’s most exciting and transformative companies. The board is resolutely focused on building momentum through the ‘path for growth’ strategy which has delivered strong returns for shareholders since its implementation.”
As part of his latest offensive, Weinstein issued a volley of broadsides at decisions made by the trust’s investment manager, Baillie Gifford. The assault centred around recent investment investment decisions to sell down the trust’s stake in Elon Musk’s Space X, shortly before the space scale up secured a an $800bn (£584.4bn) at a December investment round.
The spat escalated into an especially bad-blooded campaign, when Saba published an open letter accusing Ewit management of making decisions that “defied commercial logic” and were a “serious misstep”. Ahead of the vote, Weinstein also accused Simpson-Dent of breaching Financial Conduct Authority disclosure requirements during his time as chair of Homeserve.
Baillie Gifford defended the assault by launching its own Stop Saba campaign, and reported Weinstein to the City watchdog for making false statements about its track record.
Simpson-Dent added: “Saba remains our largest shareholder and we will continue to seek constructive engagement with them to develop potential solutions that allow us to move forward.
“Following a year of significant and costly distraction, we are ready to return our full attention to our primary purpose: investing in innovation, transformation, and exceptional potential in a way that respects the clear wishes expressed by the majority of shareholders both last February and again today.”