The chairman of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust will issue an ultimatum to Boaz Weinstein, the New York activist hedge fund operator, asking him to explain his plans for the trust so that shareholders can make an informed choice.

In an open letter to Weinstein due to be published on Tuesday, Jonathan Simpson-Dent said it was essential that shareholders be given full transparency and clarity. Weinstein’s hedge fund Saba Capital needed to end the silence on its agenda, he added.

Saba, which owns 30 per cent of EWIT, has requisitioned a general meeting on January 20 calling for the entire trust board to be sacked and replaced by its three nominees. The Edinburgh trust has responded by accusing Saba of trying to take control of the trust “on the cheap.”

Simpson-Dent said Saba needed to set out its plans for EWIT should it succeed. That meant setting out whether it planned to change its investment strategy, or change its fund manager, which is currently Baillie Gifford. Also, if it did take over the mandate, would it raise the fees?

EWIT was founded in 1998 to back small and middle-sized companies around the world. Today it is valued at £760 million and is a member of the FTSE 250. Its biggest single investment today is SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket business.

• Our writers’ share tips for 2026, plus last year’s winners and losers

Saba, in a previous assault on EWIT, said it planned to change the strategy and appoint itself as manager. That requisition attempt last February was rejected by 98.4 per cent of non-Saba shareholders. Including Saba, it was defeated by 63.8 per cent of shareholders against 36.2 per cent.

This time it has said nothing on its plans for EWIT, only that the existing board had “objectively and categorically failed to do its job” and therefore needed changing.

Simpson-Dent also demanded further details of the three nominees proposed by Saba. Did any of them have experience of serving on the board of a UK-listed investment trust or other UK-listed company? Had any of them previously been proposed or acted as representatives of Saba in any capacity?

• The best shares to buy in 2026

The letter continued: “As you are aware, our board has sought to engage constructively with you on numerous occasions. We have proposed a number of credible options that would have provided liquidity and choice for all shareholders. You have rejected every proposal.

“On behalf of all shareholders, the board requests that you provide clear and unambiguous answers to these questions by no later than 5 January so that shareholders may properly assess your proposals and make an informed choice.”

Speaking to The Times, Simpson-Dent said he had never succeeded in speaking to Weinstein. “I’ve never spoken to him,” he said. “I’m willing to get on the plane and go over to New York to go and sit down with him in his offices. But he doesn’t want to talk to me. It’s been deeply frustrating.

“He wants to grab something that he can turn into his own vehicle. So that’s why I think his motivation is that he doesn’t want any distraction from that end goal.”

Simpson-Dent added that seeing Weinstein off this time was going to be harder because Saba now owns 30 per cent of EWIT compared to 24 per cent last time. He also suspected that some arbitrageurs were taking stakes to support him. “We’ve got a bigger hill to climb. It is going to be a tight vote, so we’re going to be making as much noise as we can in the new year,” he said.

He said he was hopeful that investment platforms and wealth managers would, like last time, mobilise to support the board. Clients of Hargreaves Lansdown and Aberdeen-owned Interactive Investor own 16.8 per cent and 11.2 per cent of EWIT respectively.