New York-headquartered activist hedge fund Saba Capital has increased its stake in Hearts & Minds to nearly 10% as part of its aggressive strategy of targeting closed-end vehicles that are trading at discount to their underlying asset values, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.
Hearts & Minds is comprised of Hearts and Minds Investments (HM1), a charitable listed investment company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange; and the Australian affiliate of the Sohn Investment Conference, which has been held annually in New York since 1995. According to the Australian conference’s website, its managers “generously waive their fees, enabling 1.5% of net tangible assets to be donated each year” towards medical research fundraising.
The report cited Chris Cuffe, Chairman at HM1, in confirming that the two parties were in regular dialogue.
Cuffe said: “We understand they think the discount is attractive.
“They are very clear that they’re not approaching this investment like they might approach some other investments in listed investment companies.”
HM1 reported revenues of AUD57.58m in 2023, according to the Financial Times’s market data. Saba Capital, which has $4.4bn (AUD6.8bn) in AUM, was founded in 2009 by American hedge fund manager Boaz Weinstein and currently manages four core strategies across credit relative value, tail hedge, SPACs and closed-end funds.
