Saba Capital Comments on Shareholders’ Clear Mandate for Change at Neuberger Berman-Managed Closed-End Funds’ 2024 Joint Annual Meeting
22 Agosto 2024 - 1:00PM
Business Wire
Shareholders Voted to Elect Saba Nominee Paul
Kazarian at Both Neuberger Berman Funds by a Wide Margin – But
Neuberger Berman Rigged the Election to Enable Its Incumbent
Directors to Hold onto Their Seats
Mr. Kazarian Received More Than 2x as Many Votes as the Incumbent
Directors at NBXG Received, Even Without Counting Saba’s Votes
Neuberger Berman’s Impossible-to-Achieve
Majority Vote Standard Shines Light on Closed-End Fund Managers
Silencing Shareholders’ Voices, Which Saba is Currently Fighting in
Court
Saba Capital Management, L.P. (together with certain of its
affiliates, “Saba” or “we”), the largest shareholder of the
Neuberger Berman Municipal Fund (NYSE: NBH) and the Neuberger
Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund (NYSE: NBXG)
(collectively, the “Funds”), today commented on the rigged election
Neuberger Berman held at the Funds’ 2024 Joint Annual Meeting of
Shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”).
Based on the preliminary results of the Annual Meeting,
shareholders overwhelmingly voted to elect Saba’s director
candidate, Paul Kazarian, to the Funds’ Boards of Directors (the
“Boards”). However, due to Neuberger Berman’s majority vote
standard, Mr. Kazarian will not be granted his seat and Neuberger
Berman’s incumbent directors will hold onto their seats despite
failing to receive a majority of the votes cast.
Boaz Weinstein, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Saba,
commented:
“Despite the clear mandate for change from NBH and NBXG
shareholders, Neuberger Berman’s impossible-to-achieve vote
standard allows its directors to hold onto their seats in
perpetuity – even when they lose an election. Directors who are
responsible for deplorable shareholder returns and excessive
discounts to NAV should not be permitted to continue serving on the
board of any closed-end fund, especially when shareholders
resoundingly reject them as they have at these two funds. Shame on
Neuberger Berman for running a rigged election that allows
incumbent directors who lose by a huge landslide to keep their
seats.
After Neuberger Berman and the Investment Company Institute
recently claimed that we are ‘drowning out the voice of retail
investors’ and exerting ‘an outsized influence over the proxy
machinery’ with our votes, this year’s Annual Meeting outcome
clearly disproves both falsehoods.1 If you look at the preliminary
results from NBXG, even without the approximately 4.8 million
shares Saba voted, our director candidate Paul Kazarian won by a
landslide – receiving more than 2x as many votes as the incumbents.
Clearly, entrenched managers like Neuberger Berman are the ones
preventing retail investors’ voices from being heard.
This rigged election has occurred at a time when closed-end fund
shareholder rights are under attack on several fronts. Right now,
managers such as Neuberger Berman and their lobbyists are
attempting to push through proposals at the NYSE and CBOE to
eliminate closed-end fund shareholders’ right to annual elections.
Saba and countless other investors, governance experts and
independent academics find it appalling that these bad actors are
attempting to eliminate one of shareholders’ most fundamental
rights just so that their hand-picked directors can serve unchecked
for life, without any recourse for ordinary investors.
It is imperative that shareholders’ voices are heard and
acknowledged – not silenced. This is why Saba continues to do
everything in its power to protect the rights of closed-end fund
shareholders.”
Preliminary Voting Results of NBH and NBXG’s Joint 2024
Annual Meeting of Shareholders
Neuberger Berman Municipal
Fund (NYSE: NBH)
For
Against
Abstain
Saba Nominee Paul
Kazarian
8,137,112
72,166
8,671
Incumbent Director Martha
Goss
6,791,017
0
460,900
Incumbent Director Marc Gary
6,789,782
0
462,135
Neuberger Berman Next
Generation Connectivity Fund (NYSE: NBXG)
For
Against
Abstain
Saba Nominee Paul
Kazarian
21,731,958
329,700
40,475
Incumbent Director Michael
Knetter
8,082,708
0
4,676,610
Incumbent Director Marc Gary
8,062,838
0
4,696,477
Incumbent Director Martha
Goss
8,031,841
0
4,727,476
____________________ 1 Comment letters submitted to the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission by Neuberger Berman and the
Investment Company Institute in July 2024.
About Saba Capital Saba Capital Management, L.P. is a
global alternative asset management firm that seeks to deliver
superior risk-adjusted returns for a diverse group of clients.
Founded in 2009 by Boaz Weinstein, Saba is a pioneer of credit
relative value strategies and capital structure arbitrage. Saba is
headquartered in New York City. Learn more at
www.sabacapital.com.
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Longacre Square Partners Charlotte Kiaie / Kate Sylvester,
646-386-0091 ckiaie@longacresquare.com /
ksylvester@longacresquare.com
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