Saba Capital Management, L.P. and certain investment funds managed by it (collectively “Saba”) today announced that based on proxies submitted to the independent Inspector of Election for the Eaton Vance Floating-Rate Income Plus Fund (NYSE: EFF) 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, results indicate that EFF shareholders overwhelmingly elected all of Saba’s nominees – David Basile, Peter Borish and Charles I. Clarvit – to the Board of Trustees (the “Board”) and voted in favor of Saba’s shareholder proposal to improve corporate governance by declassifying the Board.
For | Against | Abstain | |
Declassify the Board of Trustees | 3,562,361 | 161,900 | 303,902 |
Saba Capital’s Nominees | Eaton Vance’s Nominees | ||
Basile | 3,019,055 | Faust Jr. | 672,257 |
Borish | 3,023,090 | Frost | 669,003 |
Clarvit | 3,019,055 | Wennerholm | 661,843 |
Boaz Weinstein, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Saba, said, “Shareholders have sent a clear message to management and the Board that change is required to improve EFF’s performance and corporate governance. In decisively voting to remove Eaton Vance Chairman and CEO, Thomas E. Faust Jr., from the Board, install three new independent trustees, and ask that the entire board be held accountable annually, shareholders have demonstrated their desire for increased oversight and fresh perspectives in the boardroom.
“We are grateful that shareholders share our view that the Board as formerly constituted was not acting in their best interests, and that new trustees and a declassified Board will allow for more productive shareholder engagement and help EFF achieve its optimal valuation. We are confident that with David, Peter and Charles in the boardroom, shareholders will finally reap the benefits of their investment and EFF will be held to the highest corporate governance standards.
“Over the past few years, closed-end fund shareholders have suffered from large discounts to NAV while closed-end fund trustees have gone to great lengths to entrench themselves and protect the fees of investment advisors. The results of the EFF election should clearly convey to all closed-end fund managers that closed-end fund shareholders are embracing Saba’s call for improved corporate governance and reduced discounts to NAV. We thank all shareholders for their tremendous support.”
About Saba Capital
Saba Capital Management, L.P. is an Investment Adviser based in New York. Launched in 2009, Saba currently manages assets across three core strategies: Credit Relative Value, Tail Hedge, and Closed-End Funds.
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Contacts:
Leah Jordan
Investor Relations
Leah.Jordan@sabacapital.com
