An activist fund at Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital Management, which focuses exclusively on investments in BlackRock’s closed-end products, surged by 22% this year up to the end of July, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Weinstein has been actively urging BlackRock to address the discounts its closed-end funds trade relative to their underlying assets.
The report cites unnamed sources as revealing that the Saba Capital CEF Special Opportunities Master Fund 1 targets 10 BlackRock closed-end funds.
Weinstein, who manages $5bn at Saba Capital, has led several activist initiatives against the $250bn closed-end fund industry, targeting major players including BlackRock, Nuveen Investments and Franklin Resources.
His activism aims to address funds trading at significant discounts, advocating for measures such as share buybacks and fund liquidations to enhance returns. Weinstein has estimated that investors could see a $1.4bn gain if BlackRock allowed shareholders to exit at the net asset value of the 10 funds involved in his campaigns.
