The sustainable investment trust Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) has recommended shareholders vote for the re-election of its current directors and against US hedge fund Saba Capital’s proposed replacements.
In a letter from the chair, Glen Suarez, released on Friday (22 May), he said: “In these circumstances, the board is unable to recommend the resolutions proposed by Saba for the appointment of its nominees and recommends that shareholders vote in favour of the re-election of each of the current directors.
“The proposed directors have not offered any biographical information, nor any information on their intentions or strategic plans for the company, should they be appointed,” he added.
This announcement is the latest in the feud between IEM and its largest shareholder. Following engagement earlier this year, the board launched an exit tender offer, where about 80.5% of shares were tendered by non-Saba shareholders.
Following this, Saba has ended up with more than 31% of the company, which they have used to issue a requisition notice to replace the current board, proposing Caroline Bault, Steven Grey, Jason Chen, and Aaron Morris as nominees.
See also: ‘The rules shouldn’t work like this’: Experts consider the future for IEM and Saba
“The continuing shareholders in the company deserve a truly independent and appropriately experienced board, one that acts for all shareholders,” Suarez said.
“A board nominated by Saba provides an unknown future, with unknown directors susceptible to pressure from Saba as the company’s largest shareholder and the entity that nominated them to their position as directors.”
To maximise costs and efficiency, IEM will host its annual general meeting (AGM) and the vote on the directors as requested by Saba on 17 June 2026.
“Bearing in mind that the Requisitioned General Meeting immediately follows the Annual General Meeting, and assuming that Saba will vote in favour of the removal of the current board and election of the Saba nominees, it is very likely that the Saba nominees will then be elected to the board in place of the current directors,” Suarez noted.
Experts from across the investment trust industry have also pushed for shareholders to vote against Saba’s proposed nominees.
Richard Stone, chief executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “This is a critical vote for the future of this investment trust.
“It’s concerning that the Saba-nominated directors have not provided any biographical details, or any information on their plans for Impax Environmental Markets should they be appointed.”
Shareholders need clear information on directors’ skills, proposals and plans for the investment trust if they wish to make informed decisions in events like this, the AIC chief executive warned.
Matthew Read, senior analyst at QuotedData, added Stone was right to focus on the lack of transparency surrounding Saba’s proposals.
“That is not an ideal basis on which retail investors should be expected to make an informed decision, particularly in the case of a specialist trust with a clearly defined environmental mandate,” Read noted.
The AIC’s Stone and QuotedData’s read also agreed this saga has highlighted the need for reforms to the FCA’s upcoming Listing rules.
Read said: “Saba’s repeated attacks on investment companies such as Herald Investment Trust, Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust and Impax Environmental Markets increasingly turned into wars of attrition.
“The current framework appears poorly equipped to deal with this type of sustained activist approach and the potential disruption it creates,” he concluded.
