Time to tell US raider Saba Capital to get lost – again | Nils Pratley
I keep coming back to the vagueness. Saba demands change, but what change exactly? That's the part that makes this feel less like a principled campaign and more like a game of financial chicken. The trust's board has to respond, shareholders have to pick a side, and all the while the fund's actual purpose gets buried under the noise.
The bigger question is what this does to the whole sector. UK investment trusts are built on a certain trust, the idea that managers and boards act with a long view. When a raider can roll in with a big stake and rattle everything, the system starts to look fragile. I'd want to know how many other trusts are watching this and quietly preparing their defenses.
I don't think Saba is entirely wrong to question performance, but the way it's done matters. If the goal is genuinely better returns, show the numbers. If it's just disruption for its own sake, then the board's instinct to push back looks right.