‘We can only hold back the tide for so long’: Edinburgh trust urges investors to back exit plan Investing The chair of one of Britain’s oldest investment trusts has urged its shareholders to back its proposed exit plan, saying the board had “exhausted all other options” in its bid to prevent a US activist investor from seizing control of the trust. Jonathan Simpson-Dent told investors that Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (Ewit) remained under “persistent [...]
Investment trust rejects hedge fund assault ending Saba saga Investing 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 [...]
US investor dials up attacks on investment trust before crunch vote Investing The American hedge fund tycoon behind a campaign to shake up Britain’s investment trust sector has ramped up his attacks on a Baillie Gifford fund ahead of a pivotal shareholder vote, demanding answers over its decision to offload shares in Space X. Boaz Weinstein, the founder of Saba Capital, published an open letter to Edinburgh [...]
Scottish Mortgage: City brokers back Baillie Gifford trust June 3, 2025 Scottish Mortgage has received the backing of a host of City brokers, boosting the £12bn Baillie Gifford trust’s stock price by 1.5 per cent today. One of the largest investment trusts in the UK, Scottish Mortgage, released its full-year results two weeks ago, with its underlying assets growing 11.2 per cent over the year, compared [...]
Schiehallion: Value of Spacex stake in Baillie Gifford trust skyrockets March 26, 2025 Baillie Gifford’s Schiehallion trust marked up the value of its holdings in Elon Musk’s Spacex by 86 per cent last year, as the trust worked to close the gap between its share price and underlying assets. The valuation of Spacex, which makes up 9.4 per cent of Schiehallion’s portfolio, has increased by more than 600 [...]
Baillie Gifford slashes Tesla stake as investor calls on Musk to step down March 19, 2025 Baillie Gifford has slashed its stake in Tesla to a record low as a major shareholder has called on CEO Elon Musk to step down from the company. The Edinburgh-based investment manager first invested in Musk’s electric car company in 2013 and has been a strong backer of the billionaire’s firms ever since. However, a [...]
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust: City broker warns of underperformance March 5, 2025 City broker Stifel has warned that popular investment trust Scottish Mortgage might suffer from underperformance in coming years as growth-focused US stocks begin to fall out of favour with markets. In a research note today, Stifel analysts Iain Scouller and William Crighton said that noted that Scottish Mortgage’s share price has jumped around 27 per [...]
Saba Capital loses double vote on Baillie Gifford trust takeovers February 3, 2025 Saba Capital has lost two more votes in the US hedge fund’s campaign to take over a variety of UK investment trusts, leaving its campaign looking increasingly unlikely to succeed. Two trusts run by Baillie Gifford, Keystone Positive Change and Baillie Gifford US Growth, voted today to reject Saba’s proposal to unseat their boards and [...]
Year of the Snake: China faces ‘short term pain for long term gain’ January 29, 2025 As China welcomes in the new year today, markets are hopeful that the government’s strategy of ‘short term pain for long term gain’ is enough to push the Chinese economy to a new stage of development. In traditional Chinese culture, the Year of the Snake embodies qualities of introspection, transformation and adaptability. That year seems fitting for 2025, as [...]
Saba Capital: Does the US hedge fund have a point on UK investment trusts? January 21, 2025 US hedge fund Saba Capital triggered fury and an industry-wide defensive effort when it launched an activist campaign against seven UK investment trusts last month. The Manhattan-based hedge fund, led by Boaz Weinstein, has laid siege to the trusts, accused them of failing to perform, and pushed for shareholder votes to “elect new directors with [...]