Shareholders approve wind-up of Axiom European Financial Debt fund

Investors in the Axiom European Financial Debt fund have resoundingly voted to shutter the trust after eight years.

In the extraordinary general meeting called to determine the fate of the fund, shareholders voted 99% in favour to liquidate the portfolio.

The board said it expected to be able to reimburse clients' shares on or around 12 September, according to the liquidation documents.

In the circular notice calling for the EGM earlier this month, the trust's chair William Scott said it would be closing due to "the regulatory transition that the company's investment strategy has sought to exploit since its launch is now drawing to a close".

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The Guernsey-domiciled trust invested in regulatory capital securities throughout Europe and sought to exploit opportunities from the introduction of the Basel III, an international regulatory framework for banks' risk management brought in in 2022, and Solvency II transitions, which related to regulatory requirements for insurance firms and groups. The latter was first theorised in 2009 and came into effect in 2016.

In the letter, Scott said both the board and the managers "recognised the company's strong historic performance" as well as the "potential for the company's strategy to evolve and to provide attractive returns on the future", but said they were also acutely aware that the trust's "persistent discount...have frustrated shareholders".

According to the Association of Investment Companies, the trust is currently running on a 7.1% discount.

Over five years the trust has outperformed the wider IT Debt - Loans & Bonds sector, making a total return of 21.4% versus an average 5.2% loss from the latter, according to FE fundinfo data.