Your vote, EWIT's future.

Vote to STOP SABA

Jonathan Simpson-Dent (JSD): Hi, I'm Jonathan Simpson-Dent. We're facing a critical moment in the history of the Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust.

On 14 February, shareholders face a decision that will determine the future of their investment. A future that I believe holds extraordinary potential. A future that is being threatened by the proposals of Saba Capital.

Today I have two messages. Firstly, your vote matters. Saba is targeting Edinburgh Worldwide because they've spotted that only a small number of our shareholders usually vote. They want to prey on that dynamic to seize control and extract value for themselves. The good news is that you can prevent that from happening by voting. Information on how to do that is on the screen.

Secondly, for more than two decades, the trust has provided unique access to some of the world's most innovative companies, both public and private. Despite some difficult years, we're turning a corner and the prospects are more exciting than ever. To help expand on that, I'm joined by the managers, Douglas Brodie and Svetlana Viteva.

Douglas, what have you learned from a couple of difficult years for growth investing?

Douglas Brodie (DB): Yes. As you say, a challenging few years for EWIT. The spike in inflation, the rise in interest rates, that created a difficult environment for growth investing, for smaller company investing, particularly for companies earlier in their life cycle. And we compounded that with some stock-specific errors.

We share the frustration of shareholders. We are shareholders ourselves. That's been a difficult period. So over the past year, with challenge from the board, we've really sought to improve aspects of our process, enhancing our team, improving our decision-making, [and] acting to a higher level of discipline; be that the number of holdings that we have, the diversification that we work to [or] the financial resiliency of the businesses that we invest in.

And we think we're really starting to see the benefit of that now. We have a broader portfolio. We have more exposure to profitable cash-generated businesses. But crucially, we've been able to do that while still staying true to this ethos of high-potential transformational companies.

JSD: And Svetlana, why do you believe we've turned a corner?

Svetlana Viteva (SV): Well, the numbers are speaking for themselves. Even though it's a relatively short time frame, over the last six months alone, the net asset value of the trust has risen 16 per cent, which is substantially outperforming the broader smaller companies market.

More importantly, we are seeing fundamental improvements and progress with our own portfolio companies, whether that's growing demand for drones in our environment or clinical trial successes with Alnylam or new user additions at Starlink.

Our portfolio grew earnings materially over the last year, which is against the context of a broader smaller companies market, which actually contracted. And independent forecasters are estimating that our portfolio companies are going to continue growing their earnings at an accelerated pace; more than two times the growth rate of the benchmark over the next three years. And we even think that these projections might be conservative.

So when you combine this with a portfolio which is currently sitting at valuations which are well below the historic averages, we see there is a lot of potential for upside there. And from a shareholder's perspective, this would be an absolutely disastrous time for Saba to enforce a different and unknown strategy just as the fund is turning the corner.

JSD: And Douglas, for all of us shareholders, why should we get excited for the future?

DB: Look, we're interested in deep transformational change and really technology empowering that. And we think the portfolio is cram-packed full of businesses that offer that.

So take quantum computing, we have a holding in PsiQuantum, a business that we think is really at the forefront of making quantum computing scalable and commercially relevant. And if people really unlock that, [there’s] potential to go well beyond modelling that can be done by artificial intelligence. So real insight in terms of, say, battery chemistry, climate modelling, drug development, etc.

We have the longstanding position in SpaceX, a business where we've made multiple times our original investment, and really one where we just think it's getting going in terms of its ability to transform communications, applications in defence, etc. Huge relevance there.

You can flip over to the healthcare companies where we're seeing all [of] the scientific advancements really begin to resonate with deep commercial progress. Alnylam is a great example of that. Pinpoint precision, interfering with individual genes, influencing their disease relevance, and doing that in a way that really alters the odds of clinical success.

So yeah, we think EWIT makes for a very unique portfolio. It gives people exposure to these game-changing technologies, with real future-shaping capabilities, across both the private sphere and the public sphere. And it does that in a very cost-competitive package.

So, yeah, I think for shareholders in EWIT, they currently own and participate in that future through the holdings that they have. So, I would urge them to vote against Saba's proposals that are really seeking to deny them that opportunity.

JSD: Thank you, Douglas. Thank you, Svetlana. So, over to you, our fellow shareholders. Edinburgh Worldwide isn't just another investment trust. It represents your stake in pioneering companies that you might otherwise miss out on.

You choose Edinburgh Worldwide because you want a window into the future and its potential to reward long-term investors. From Axon to Tesla to Dexcom, the team have proven their ability to identify tomorrow's winners.

And with the portfolio stronger than ever, now is not the time to change course. I urge you to protect your investment, protect your trust and vote to stop SABA.

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