US activist loses vote against two more investment trusts
Shareholders in Henderson Opportunities and CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income voted against proposals to overhaul their boards.
4th February 2025 14:46
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor
Five of the seven investment trusts targeted by US activist investor Saba Capital have voted against proposals to overhaul their boards.
Today was the turn of Henderson Opportunities (LSE:HOT) and CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income (LSE:CYN) to hold general meetings on Saba's proposals. In line with the other three votes, shareholders resoundingly voted against the proposals, “remove all current directors of the trusts”, and “appoint new, highly qualified candidates to replace them”. The meeting were triggered by Saba owning more than 10% of shares in each trust.
- Invest with ii: SIPP Account | Stocks & Shares ISA | See all Investment Accounts
If successful, Saba’s longer-term plan was to potentially merge some of the trusts to form a new strategy of purchasing other discounted trusts.
Both proposals required more than 50% of the votes cast. Boaz Weinstein (pictured above) runs Saba Capital and oversees $5.5 billion (£4.4 billion) in assets at the New York-based hedge fund.
Of votes cast, Henderson Opportunities Trust recorded 65.4% against the resolutions, while CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income had just over 59% against the proposals.
In line with how the other three votes panned out when excluding the votes that Saba cast in favour of its own proposals, only a very small number of shareholders voted in favour of the changes. When stripping out Saba’s votes, Henderson Opportunities Trust had 0.98% support in favour, while CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income had 1.4% in favour.
Wendy Colquhoun, chair of Henderson Opportunities Trust, said: “The result today shows that shareholders do not want to be part of a Saba managed vehicle, but instead want to be able to retain full choice over what happens to their investment with more than 99% of non-Saba shareholders voting against the Resolutions.”
Ahead of the vote Henderson Opportunities Trust put forward proposals to wind up the company. Shareholders will be offered a full cash exit at the value of its underlying investments (the net asset value or NAV), or can roll over their investment into the open-ended fund Janus Henderson UK Equity Income & Growth, which is managed by the same fund manager – Laura Foll.
For the wind-up to proceed it will require the approval of 75% of votes cast.
Christopher Casey, chair of CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income commented: "I am truly pleased to see such a good turnout from shareholders so that their views on the future of their investment have been heard. The strong vote against Saba's proposals speaks loud and clear - the majority of our shareholders have shown the confidence in the existing board and have voted to have them steer the company in the future.”
The board of CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income is currently undertaking a review – including whether to maintain the current investment policy and management arrangements. It said the review will be communicated by the end of June.
Tomorrow (5 February) The European Smaller Companies Trust PLC (LSE:ESCT) will reveal how its shareholders voted, while 14 February is when the meeting takes place for Edinburgh Worldwide (LSE:EWI). Customers of interactive investor that own shares in Edinburgh Worldwide have until 6.59pm on 10 February to cast their votes.
Our customers can vote via the Voting Mailbox in their online account (under “portfolio” at the top of the page). Our customers also receive notifications through their ii app “voting mailbox” service, informing them when they are eligible to place a vote.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.