Post by QuotedData

The new US-based, Saba-backed board of Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI) is looking to hire directors in the UK to “promote diversity of viewpoints and professional skills”. Chair Gabi Gliksberg, the founder and managing partner of ATG Capital Management in Miami, and Jassen Trenkow, a former bank executive in New York, and Michael Joseph, a portfolio manager and deputy CIO at Stansberry Asset Management in Texas, said: “We will shortly be engaging a specialist recruitment firm to assist us in that search.” Saba Capital Management, L.P., the activist hedge fund that owns 31% of EWI, succeeded in getting its three nominees elected at the annual general meeting on 30 April. They have been criticised for their lack of knowledge of UK investment companies and for not attending the AGM or putting themselves up for investor scrutiny. In half-year results today the new directors responded to the second point, saying they had “spoken with a wide range of shareholders” since their appointment. They added their view that the trust’s retail shareholders were “an important part of our investor base, and we will continue to have regard to their interests alongside those of all shareholders in every decision we take.” They said the “consistent themes” from their shareholder meetings were requests to review Baillie Gifford’s partial sale of SpaceX last year – a point that Saba founder 🗽Boaz Weinstein has pressed as he seeks to get his firm appointed as fund manager – and an exit opportunity at net asset value (NAV) minus costs. The interim report showed the surge in valuation of SpaceX before its $1.3trn flotation on 12 June was the main factor in EWI’s performance in the six months to 30 April. The £960m trust managed by Douglas Brodie, Svetlana Viteva and Luke Ward made an 8.4% investment return. That was below the 9.4% of the S&P Global Small Cap index, although shareholders reaped a 14.6% return as its share price discount to NAV narrowed from 7.2% to 1.9% in the run-up to the AGM. James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData, said: “There is not much ‘meat’ in Edinburgh Worldwide’s results. This feels like a placeholder while the new board prepares to do whatever it is it plans to do. The manager’s report paints a picture of a world in flux and an exciting opportunity set for small-cap global growth businesses. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the way to play it.” Register here to receive our free, daily newsletter in your inbox on investment companies and active ETFs: https://lnkd.in/g9HVsfer More on this story here.  https://lnkd.in/ePz2WeRD