Saba Capital has suffered the sixth defeat in its attempt to remove the boards of seven investment trust boards after European Smaller Companies Trust shareholders voted to side with the current board.

As with the previous five votes, the overwhelming majority of shares that were not already held by the New York based hedge fund voted against the resolutions — with Saba garnering only a further 0.5% of votes to vote in favour of its plans.

Overall, 62.1% of the votes cast were against Saba’s proposals. Turnout was once again high with 76.86% of shares voted.

James Williams, chair of Janus Henderson’s European Smaller Companies Trust, said: “Today’s vote is a clear and complete rejection of Saba’s proposals and a resounding endorsement of ESCT’s proven investment strategy, the quality of its independent board and the manager’s ability to deliver outperformance.”

The final general meeting called by Saba will be held on 14 February when Baillie Gifford managed Edinburgh Worldwide shareholders will have their say.

At meetings held this week, Saba lost votes to oust the boards of CQS Natural Resources Growth & Income, Henderson Opportunities, Baillie Gifford US Growth and Keystone Positive Change. These followed Saba’s first defeat at Herald last week.