US activist hedge fund Saba Capital has hired corporate broker Sir James Waterlow, former partner at Singer Capital Markets, to take up a new role of UK managing director.
In the new position, Waterlow will work alongside Saba portfolio manager Paul Kazarian who has spearheaded the New York firm’s investments in UK investment companies.
The move bolsters Saba’s operations as it prepares to launch its own activist fund in Dublin to target London-listed funds trading on wide discounts, and its efforts to take control of Herald (HRI) and Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) reach a pivotal moment. Both trusts are striving to extricate themselves from the grip of their 30% shareholder through 100% tender offers.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Waterlow worked for nearly 18 years at Singer, latterly as a partner in its investment funds team where he helped raise over £5bn for corporate clients, before joining Saba last month.
Born in 1970 as Thomas James Waterlow, he is the fifth baronet Waterlow having succeeded his father Sir James Gerard Waterlow in 2013.
He is also a non-executive director of Manchester and London (MNL) investment trust, having joined the board of the £287m listed technology fund in 2020.
Our view
QuotedData senior analyst Matthew Read said: “After a number of failed attempts to take control of various investment trust boards, where Saba has been repeatedly criticised for its attempts to stack boards with a small cohort of directors that lack the relevant UK investment companies experience, it finally seems to be acknowledging this and putting proper boots on the ground here. Clearly there is still a long way to go, but hopefully this heralds the beginning of a new approach by Saba to its investment in the sector.
“Saba’s actions to date have riled investors and entrenched opposition to any proposal that it puts forward. If it wants to change that, it must publicly rule out any attempt to seize assets under management by trapping investors in a strategy that they didn’t buy into.”
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