Activist Saba Capital Management has mounted a third attempt to overhaul the board at Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWI), calling for the election of three new independent directors and urging shareholders to vote against the re-election of the incumbent board.
The firm has proposed that the resolutions be put to shareholders at the forthcoming EWI 2026 Annual General Meeting.
A series of board proposals put forward by Saba, including the removal of Chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent, were rejected by shareholders at a Requisitioned General Meeting on 20 January.
Saba, which holds approximately 30% of EWI’s shares, said the proposals are aimed at addressing what it describes as prolonged underperformance and governance shortcomings at the trust. The move follows a requisitioned general meeting in January 2026, at which 53.2% of votes supported the existing board. Saba argues the narrow margin indicates continued shareholder dissatisfaction.
In an accompanying open letter, the hedge fund pointed to EWI’s five-year performance, noting negative returns on both a net asset value and share price basis. According to data cited by Saba, the trust’s five-year NAV return of -45.3% and share price return of -43.9% lagged the FTSE All-Share Index and the S&P Global SmallCap Index by wide margins. Saba also criticised the board’s oversight of the trust’s manager, Baillie Gifford, including decisions surrounding the reduction of EWI’s holding in SpaceX, which it described as the portfolio’s most valuable asset.
Saba further raised governance concerns relating to historical disclosure around the appointment of a current director, arguing that the omission of regulatory sanctions linked to a previous board role represented a failure of governance controls.
The hedge fund has nominated three candidates for election to the board: Gabriel Gliksberg, founder and managing partner of ATG Capital Management; Michael Joseph, deputy CIO at Stansberry Asset Management; and Jassen Trenkow, a former senior executive at Barclays and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Saba said any future decisions regarding EWI’s strategy or investment management arrangements would rest solely with a reconstituted independent board.
In a statement issued in response to Saba’s announcement, an EWI spokesperson said: “Only three weeks ago, a record 70% of shareholders participated in the second vote in less than a year, with an overwhelming majority (93%) of non-Saba holders again rejecting its proposals. Despite this decisive outcome and the strong shareholder opposition to Saba taking control, Saba is evidently choosing not to listen.
“Since shareholders rejected its resolutions on 20 January, the Board has made a number of attempts to engage with Saba and its advisers. On every occasion, Saba has failed to engage.
“The Board will update shareholders on its plans in the near future.”
