'Aggressive minority' warning as crunch vote looms at Scottish company |
There has been a huge wave of support for the Scottish company, as the US hedge fund's shadow falls over the sector, writes Business Editor Ian McConnell.
However, turnout will be crucial to what happens next.
It has been fascinating to watch a giant wave of support build for Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust’s board as it endeavours to see off another attempt to oust all of its directors by US hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital Management.
This is the second such attempt by Saba in less than a year.
It had always looked likely that there would be strong support for Edinburgh Worldwide’s directors in their latest efforts to see off Saba, which is attempting to replace the trust’s board with three US-based individuals it has chosen.
Saba’s attack, although the US activist has been less forthcoming about what it intends to do with Edinburgh Worldwide if it succeeds this time round, looks very much like its previous one.
And Edinburgh Worldwide, which is run by Baillie Gifford and had total assets of around £831.55 million at November 30, has highlighted an impressive investment performance against its benchmark over the past year.
Last time round, Edinburgh Worldwide was the last of seven UK investment trusts targeted by Saba to see off an attempt to oust its board.
This time, Saba has not launched the same kind of salvo. However, its shadow is looming large over the broader investment trust sector.
Former UK pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann has this week highlighted the importance of retail shareholders of........