A Wall Street hedge fund manager has launched a bid to oust the board of a leading British investment trust, less than a year after his last attempt failed.
Boaz Weinstein has written to the board of Baillie Gifford’s Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWI) to accuse it of having “objectively and categorically failed” to improve its performance since he voiced concerns last year.
In his letter, Mr Weinstein accused EWI of having “massively underperformed” as he called for a complete overhaul of its board of directors.
The letter says: “We do not have faith in the current board’s ability to implement the necessary strategic changes… Therefore, we will requisition a general meeting of the company to remove the entire incumbent board.”
It marks the latest attack on Baillie Gifford by Mr Weinstein through his hedge fund Saba Capital, which has taken a combative approach towards an array of the UK’s top funds in recent years.
Baillie Gifford previously fended off a series of similar attacks from Saba earlier this year after shareholders voted in favour of the Scottish fund’s management.
Saba Capital currently owns a 30pc stake in EWI, making it the investment fund’s largest shareholder. The New York hedge fund also owns sizeable stakes in two of Baillie Gifford’s other high profile funds, including its US Growth Trust and its Keystone Positive Change Investment Trust.
EWI currently manages almost £850m worth of assets, of which almost 12pc is invested in Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket-making company. The fund was started by Baillie Gifford in 1998 to invest in innovative high growth tech companies.
The attack follows a three year slide in EWI’s share price. The stock surged during the pandemic thanks to its investments in companies including Ocado, Tesla and Zillow. But its performance later started to flag as investors became more risk averse in response to higher interest rates in 2022. EWI’s share price has dropped by 37pc over the past five years.
Mr Weinstein has repeatedly voiced concerns about the performances of some of Britain’s most high-profile funds, which he has said range from “underwhelming” to “disastrous”.
On launching the attack on Baillie Gifford last December, Mr Weinstein said: “Underperformance, persistent trading discounts and disengaged management teams leave us no choice but to act.”
Mr Weinstein, who is known for his penchant for chess and poker, first started Saba in 2009 after leaving his job as a derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank at 35 years old.
The hedge fund manager has also attacked high-profile British fund managers, including Terry Smith’s Fundsmith, citing similar claims.
Baillie Gifford was first formed in Edinburgh in 1907 and manages £208bn across its 55 funds. It is known for making early investments in some of the world’s biggest tech companies including Amazon, Tesla and Nvidia.
Jonathan Simpson-Dent, the chairman of EWI, said: “We are disappointed by Saba’s open letter. Throughout the last year we have sought to engage with Saba to understand their objectives and to enter into a constructive dialogue regarding options for an equitable and holistic solution, including a return of capital.
“While we are open to discuss board composition with Saba, we would strongly reject any proposal to replace the entire board and the ambiguity that would follow.”
He added that Saba had failed to reflect the “significant progress” the trust had made since November 2024.