Saba Capital Management, the US activist hedge fund, is tightening its grip on the UK investment trust sector with a second FTSE 250 board now under its control.
The New York-based firm has been mounting a sustained campaign across several London-listed closed-end funds, pushing for board representation and strategic change.
The move marks a significant escalation in Saba’s long-running battle to reshape governance across parts of the UK investment trust landscape.
Saba, led by founder Boaz Weinstein, has argued that persistent discounts to net asset value across UK investment trusts represent an unacceptable failure of stewardship by incumbent boards.
The firm built large stakes in a number of FTSE 250 investment trusts, using its shareholder position to demand board seats and, in some cases, full board changes.
Securing control of a second FTSE 250 board demonstrates that Saba’s strategy of shareholder activism is yielding concrete results in the UK market.
The hedge fund is now understood to be eyeing board representation at a third FTSE 250 investment trust, extending a campaign that has rattled the wider investment trust industry.
UK investment trusts have historically maintained independent boards to protect shareholder interests, making Saba’s push for control particularly contentious among industry observers.
Critics of the campaign have warned that replacing experienced independent directors with Saba-aligned nominees could prioritise the hedge fund’s short-term exit strategy over long-term shareholder value.
Supporters of the activist approach counter that chronic discounts to net asset value justify urgent and decisive intervention from major shareholders willing to force change.
The developments signal a broader shift in how US activist investors view the UK investment trust sector, which manages hundreds of billions of pounds in assets on behalf of retail and institutional investors.
Saba’s continued advance through FTSE 250 boardrooms is expected to prompt renewed debate about governance standards and shareholder rights across the London-listed closed-end fund universe.