Saba Capital Targets Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust in New Push
New York hedge fund Saba Capital is pressuring another UK investment trust, renewing its disruptive campaign across the FTSE 250 sector.
Boaz Weinstein's Saba Capital has opened a new front in its ongoing campaign against UK investment trusts, this time setting its sights on Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust, a FTSE 250-listed fund. The New York-based hedge fund has a pattern of acquiring significant stakes in British investment trusts and subsequently demanding changes, frequently without offering specific remedies or clear strategic alternatives.
The latest episode marks another chapter in what observers have labeled the Saba saga — a prolonged and often contentious effort by an American activist investor to reshape a distinctly British corner of financial markets. Investment trusts, which are companies that invest in portfolios of other assets, have long been a feature of the UK market but have also been criticized for allowing share prices to languish at steep discounts to the net asset value of their underlying holdings.
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On that narrow point, Saba's aggressive posture has had a measurable effect on the sector's culture. Boards of UK investment trusts now face greater pressure to act when persistent discounts emerge, making outright complacency a harder position to defend publicly. Whether that outcome justifies Saba's broader tactics remains a matter of sharp debate among market participants and governance specialists.
Weinstein's fund has drawn criticism for the vagueness of its demands, which critics argue prioritize short-term activist gains over the long-term interests of retail shareholders who form a significant portion of investment trust investor bases. The tension between activist pressure and stewardship obligations is likely to define the next phase of the dispute.
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