Shareholders in Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Ltd (FGEN) have voted by a decisive margin to keep the London-listed fund running, rejecting a resolution that would have forced the company to cease in its current form.
At the annual general meeting on 18 September, just 6.15 per cent of votes cast supported Resolution 16, a special motion proposing that the Guernsey-based investment company be wound up. The proposal drew 22.7mn votes in favour, while more than 346mn were cast against.
The resounding rejection underscores investor confidence in the fund’s long-term strategy of backing infrastructure projects with environmental benefits, despite lingering concerns over persistent share price discounts to net asset value.
Other AGM business, including the approval of quarterly dividends of 1.95p per share through March 2025 and the authority to offer a scrip alternative, passed comfortably. Two special resolutions — granting authority for buy-backs and disapplication of pre-emption rights on up to 10 per cent of the share capital — also won strong backing, though Resolution 14 drew a larger minority of dissenting votes than other items.
Notably, shareholders approved Resolution 15, which introduces a “continuation vote” safeguard. If FGEN’s shares trade at a discount of more than 10 per cent to NAV for a full financial year from April 2025, the board will be required to put the company’s future to a shareholder vote. That provision provides a formal pressure point for investors frustrated by valuation gaps.
The outcome of Resolution 16 highlights the balancing act faced by closed-end funds in the environmental infrastructure sector. While investors demand accountability on discounts, the appetite for an outright wind-up appears minimal, reflecting both the illiquid nature of the underlying assets and the long-term capital needed to finance them.
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure has targeted a dividend of 7.96p per share for the year ending March 2026. The decisive margin against winding-up suggests that, for now, shareholders are prepared to wait and see whether the new continuation mechanism can narrow the discount while preserving the fund’s green investment mandate.