Activist investor Saba Capital Management has launched an exchange-traded fund that offers exposure to discounted UK investment trusts

By Dan McEvoy

News
Boaz Weinstein, founder and chief investment officer of Saba Capital Management

Saba Capital Management (Saba), the New York-based activist hedge fund that has shaken the UK’s investment trust sector over the last year and a half, has launched a product enabling investors to buy into its strategy.

Saba, in partnership with exchange-traded fund (ETF) white-labeller HANetf, launched the Saba Capital Investment Trusts UCITS ETF (LON:UKIT).

This actively-managed ETF will hold UK-domiciled investment trusts trading at a discount to net asset value (NAV), similar to those that Saba has targeted since November 2024.

“Saba brings deep expertise in the investment trust and closed-end fund universe, with a long track record of identifying opportunities created by discounts to NAV and corporate actions within the sector,” said Hector McNeil, co-founder and co-CEO of HANetf.

As an activist investor, Saba’s strategy revolves around building a stake in discounted closed-ended funds and then pushing for corporate actions that will narrow the trust’s discount in the short term. This is known as closed-ended fund arbitrage.

The ETF will be managed by Saba’s founder and CIO Boaz Weinstein as well as partner and portfolio manager Paul Kazarian.

“The £250 billion-plus UK investment trust sector is undergoing a fundamental realignment, with renewed attention on narrowing discounts creating an ideal environment for a trust-focused active ETF,” said Weinstein. “We designed UKIT to help investors capitalise on this shifting landscape – empowering investors to profit from discounts to NAV, rather than suffer from them.”

Which investment trusts does Saba’s ETF hold?

As of 5 March, the top three non-cash holdings in Saba’s investment trust-focused ETF were IP Group PLC (LON:IPO), an investment company that invests in technologically and scientifically innovative businesses; biotech-focused investment trust Syncona (LON:SYNC); and private equity investment trust Harbourvest (LON:HVPE).

UKIT’s fourth-largest holding was Edinburgh Worldwide (LON:EWI), the growth-focused investment trust whose board Saba attempted to displace earlier this year, as well as at the start of 2025.

The ETF also holds Allianz Technology Trust (LON:ATT), in which Saba disclosed a 4.9% stake on 5 March, as well as Unite Group (LON:UTG), Pantheon International (LON:PIN), Henderson Smaller Companies (LON:HSL), Montanaro European Smaller Companies (LON:MTE), Polar Capital Technology (LON:PCT), Baillie Gifford Japan (LON:BGFD), Brown Advisory US Smaller Companies (LON:BASC), Bankers Investment Trust (LON:BNKR), Scottish American (LON:SAIN) and Schroder UK Mid Cap Fund (LON:SCP).

As of 5 March, 55% of UKIT’s assets were held in cash.