Baillie Gifford ‘appalled’ by US activist investor Saba Capital’s conduct January 6, 2025 Baillie Gifford has hit back against an activist campaign by US hedge fund Saba Capital targeting three of its investment trusts, calling the hedge fund’s actions “a backdoor attempt to seize control”. “We are appalled by Saba’s actions and conduct,” said Karen Brade, chair of one of Baillie Gifford’s trusts targeted by the attack. Last [...]
Why one US hedge fund is taking aim at the UK’s biggest investment trusts December 19, 2024 A shake up could be coming for the UK’s investment trust industry after US hedge fund Saba Capital launched a campaign to topple the boards of seven different companies yesterday. “Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, Saba has descended upon the investment trust industry, urging self-reflection,” said Shavar Halberstadt, analyst at Winterflood. There have been [...]
US hedge fund launches activist offensive against UK investment trusts December 18, 2024 US hedge fund manager Saba Capital has launched a campaign to oust the boards of seven top UK investment trusts today after amassing stakes in the firms over the past year. In an open letter to the companies today, the activist investor said it was triggering shareholder votes to “elect new directors with a concrete [...]
Dan Loeb’s Third Point weighs ‘strategic options’ after pressure from activist investors December 11, 2024 Hedge fund Third Point investment trust has identified “a number of credible strategic options” to boost its share price following a strategic review led by activist investors. In April, the trust appointed a duo of activist investors to its board to try and fix the persistent gap between its share price and value of its [...]
Etoro: ‘We could still float in London but things need to change’ December 3, 2024 The UK boss of trading platform Etoro has opened up about what the London Stock Exchange has to do to win its backing.
3i: Action’s performance continues to lift FTSE 100 investment trust November 14, 2024 3i said it will pay its first dividend of 30.5p per share, up from 26.5p in the same period last year.
Supermarket Income REIT slashes fees for shareholders November 5, 2024 Supermarket Income REIT has slashed its fees in a bid to align management’s interest with shareholders. The trust will now charge fees based on its stock price rather than on underlying assets. Since the trust trades 21 per cent below the value of its underlying assets, fees will drop by around 20 per cent, according [...]
Investec downgrades ‘deeply underwhelming’ Martin Currie trust October 29, 2024 Investec has downgraded a Martin Currie-run investment trust due to its “deeply underwhelming” performance, arguing investors should sell out of the vehicle. The performance of the £234.5m Martin Currie Global Portfolio has been “concerning” and its attempts to keep its stock price up are “clearly not sustainable,” warned Investec analysts Alan Brierley and Ben Newell. [...]
Another investment trust bites the dust: Abrdn’s Asia Dragon set to merge October 28, 2024 Abrdn’s chronically underperforming Asia Dragon trust is set to merge with Invesco’s Asia investment trust. Despite being the larger of the two trusts, the £682m Asia Dragon trust will be taken over by the £219m Invesco Asia trust, which analysts said was due to the latter’s better performance. Abrdn’s Asia Dragon launched a strategic review [...]
The five REITs primed to be bought next October 26, 2024 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been dropping like flies this year, as competitors increasingly pursue mergers to grow their size, and many have begun to speculate about which one might be next to go. The largest merger of the year was LXI REIT, which was bought out by Londonmetric Property at the start of [...]