By Jennifer Hill, Citywire Investment Trust Insider, 20 February 2025:
Herald (HRI), the small-cap technology trust, has urged shareholders to come out in force again amid fears that US activist Saba Capital could win its campaign ‘via the back door’.
The £1.3bn trust will hold its triennial continuation vote at its 2025 annual general meeting (AGM) on 24 March..
In addition, it flagged ‘a risk that the directors’ re-elections may be targeted at the AGM by any shareholder aiming to cause disruption in order to assist with other strategic goals’..
James Carthew, head of investment company research at QuotedData and columnist for this site, said: ‘It is vital that shareholders vote their shares to approve the trust’s continuation to avoid Saba winning its campaign via the back door.’
He added that investors in all the trusts that Saba has targeted, including those where it has not launched a public campaign, will ‘need to be vigilant over the coming months’..
The plea to shareholders came as Herald’s annual results show NAV total returns of 12.1% for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 versus 5.0% for the Deutsche Numis Smaller Companies plus AIM (ex investment companies) index and 25.9% for the Russell 2000 Technology index.
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