Edinburgh Worldwide (EWI ) has set the date for its general meeting requisitioned by Saba Capital as 14 February, but there is no love lost between the trust and the ‘undemocratic’ activist investor.

The £701m global small-cap fund run by Baillie Gifford is the last of seven targeted trusts to go head-to-head with Saba, with its annual general meeting following immediately after.

It will follow the requisitioned meetings of Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA ), Keystone Positive Change (KPC ), Henderson Opportunities (HOT ), European Smaller Companies (ESCT ) and CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income (CYN ), while Herald (HRI ) will become the first to face its shareholder vote on Wednesday.

Like the others, Edinburgh Worldwide has encouraged shareholders to vote against Saba’s proposals to oust its board and set itself up to take over as manager of the closed-end fund.

Jonathan Simpson-Dent, chair of the trust, said that he was ‘deeply troubled’ by Saba’s proposals.

‘Investment trusts are extremely democratic by construction – Saba’s proposals are not,’ he said.

‘Saba’s overt land grab for its own end game exploits our long-standing retail shareholder base, who usually do not vote.’

Simpson-Dent maintained that the portfolio is run ‘solely and independently for you, our shareholders’.

‘You have chosen Edinburgh Worldwide for its unique and early access to hidden gems, ground-breaking businesses which in many cases are not available on the public markets,’ he said. ‘Let’s not let Saba take that away.’

Saba’s original request for a shareholder meeting at Edinburgh Worldwide was declared invalid due to a technical hiccup with the derivatives Saba uses to maximise its voting rights, and the New York-based hedge fund was forced to make another request – a step which has granted Edinburgh Worldwide more time to reach retail shareholders. 

Saba has targeted the seven trusts over their poor performance and persistent discounts.

Edinburgh Worldwide manager Douglas Brodie was, if anything, singled out for particular criticism by Saba boss Boaz Weinstein in an antagonistic webinar last week for presiding over significant underperformance despite holding unlisted investor darling SpaceX. 

The trust has certainly had a difficult few years and last November proposed a shake-up of its portfolio and £130m in capital returns to keep investors onside.

The changes included naming Luke Ward and Svetlana Viteva as co-managers alongside Brodie, promoting them from deputies, as well as reducing the number of positions and upping the size limit for new investments from $5bn to the market cap of the S&P Global Small Cap index’s largest constituent.

Over three years the net asset value (NAV) of the fund has tumbled 22.6%, making it the worst-performing trust in its five-strong global smaller companies sector, while the shares have fallen 21%. For comparison, the S&P Citigroup Global Small Cap index is up 19.9% over the same period, according to Deutsche Numis data.

That said, Oryx International Growth (OIG ) shareholders have actually lost more at 30.2% over three years, due to a widening discount. 

EWI has managed to regain some ground over the past 12 months, over which time it is the best performer among peers, with a NAV return of 18.1% and a 31% increase in the share price, though the latter has been boosted by Saba’s stake-building.