Herald Investment Trust boss Andrew Joy won’t be breaking out the champagne yet despite an overwhelming victory over the US marauder Saba.
The amazing 99 per cent-plus vote of minority investors against putting Saba chief Boaz Weinstein in charge augurs well for the six other trusts targeted for a makeover.
The big risk will be that the margin of Herald’s triumph will lead to complacency among both big battalion and retail investors in the other trusts.
It is also possible those funds which have made pledges to return capital to shareholders will fare better than those less able to make distributions.
None of this means Herald is out of the woods. Weinstein, as a dominant investor with a 27.8 per cent stake, may seek preferred status, which could give him undue influence on board decisions and strategies.
The votes might have gone the right way, but this whole affair doesn’t reflect well on industry body the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or some of the targeted trust boards which have been found wanting.
Rejected: The 99%-plus vote of Herald Investment Trust minority investors against putting Saba chief Boaz Weinstein in charge augurs well for the six other trusts targeted
The AIC was late to the party and questions are being raised about the leadership of chief executive Richard Stone.
The FCA has put all its focus on cost transparency but neglected shareholder democracy which ought to be part of the consumer duty.
Investment platforms have been ill-prepared for this kind of fight, in some case imposing grotesque charges for voting.
One shareholder at the general meeting yesterday didn’t receive notification of voting procedure until after the deadline.
As for the six remaining targeted trusts, they need to understand that modern investment requires full disclosure.
Detail on strategy and the CVs of directors and executives is too closely held. It is not brain science.
Poor form
Rachel Reeves won’t be thankful for the comparison. But the sacking of Marcus Bokkerink as chairman of the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) – as a shortcut to growth – is a reminder of Liz Truss’s ill-fated decision to rid the Treasury of its formidable permanent secretary Tom Scholar before her mini-Budget.
The CMA clearly is not the Treasury and with due respect to Bokkerink it is the regulator’s chief executive Sarah Cardell who has made all the waves with her willingness to challenge the biggest beasts, such as Microsoft.
It initially blocked the £55billion bid by tech behemoth Microsoft for gaming giant Activision Blizzard.
If Reeves and advisers had examined the CMA’s actions, rather than react to a disappointing growth presentation, they might have reached a different conclusion.
Cardell’s decision led Microsoft to guarantee open access to its gaming portfolio.
It also was intended to make sure Britain’s creative genius in the £3billion gaming industry, centred on Dundee and Sheffield, has economic space to develop.
The CMA’s initial coolness towards a merger between Vodafone and mobile provider Three encouraged them to pledge £9billion of new investment to improve coverage.
Amazon is not a widely admired employer, and the choice of its former chief Doug Gurr is a slap in the face to workers’ rights, says the GMB union.
Amazon’s privileged position on business rates means it is a perpetual threat to our High Streets at a time of stress.
Professor Tomaso Valetti, of Imperial College business school, has said it is ‘delusional’ to think switching chiefs will deliver more output. Tax incentives, axing intrusive quangos and a great trade deal with the US could unleash output.
Flight plan
As one who lives under the Heathrow flightpath, adjacent to Richmond Park, I have more reasons than most to abhor the idea of a third runway at the airport.
But nothing is more essential to Britain’s entrepot services economy than a third runway at the nation’s hub airport.
Passenger numbers are at pre-Covid levels with the usual horrors of delayed departures and circling planes because of a lack of facilities.
Sir Howard Davies’ airport commission in 2015 warned of impending capacity constraints.
The Government must approve a licence to go ahead without delay.
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