The Fund’s Highly Qualified, Highly
Credentialed, and Gender-Diverse Slate of Nominees Stands in
Stark Contrast to Saba’s All-Male Slate of Nominees Handpicked from
the Saba Nominee Bullpen
Vote on the WHITE Proxy Card Today “FOR ALL”
the Fund’s Highly Qualified Nominees and “AGAINST” Saba’s
Potentially Devastating Proposal to Terminate the Fund’s Investment
Adviser
Pioneer Floating Rate Trust (NYSE: PHD), a registered closed-end
investment fund (the “Fund”), today announced that, in connection
with its upcoming 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held on
September 16, 2020, the Fund is sending the following letter to
shareholders:
August 14, 2020
Dear Pioneer Floating Rate Trust Shareholder,
We are writing to you again regarding this year’s upcoming
Annual Meeting of Shareholders, as it is vital you are aware of how
the impressive qualifications and credentials of the gender-diverse
slate of trustee nominees recommended by your Board stand in stark
contrast to those of the hand-picked, all-male slate of nominees
proposed by Saba Capital Management, L.P.
Your Board unanimously recommends and strongly encourages you to
vote on the WHITE proxy card
“FOR ALL” of the Board’s highly qualified and very experienced
nominees - Diane P. Durnin, Benjamin M.
Friedman, and Kenneth J. Taubes - and “AGAINST” Saba’s
proposal to terminate the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with
Amundi Pioneer Asset Management, Inc.
THE BOARD’S HIGHLY QUALIFIED, HIGHLY CREDENTIALED, AND
GENDER-DIVERSE SLATE OF NOMINEES BRINGS TO YOUR BOARD CRITICAL AND
COMPLEMENTARY SKILL SETS, BACKGROUNDS, AND PERSPECTIVES THAT ARE
CENTRAL TO THE BOARD’S OVERSIGHT OF THE FUND.
In deciding to vote on the WHITE proxy card “FOR ALL” of the Board’s
highly qualified and very experienced nominees, we urge you to
consider the following:
- As current Board members, the Board’s nominees are deeply
familiar with the Fund, its investment strategies, and its
investment objective, as well as with the Fund’s portfolio managers
and other key personnel that manage the day-to-day operations of
the Fund;
- That, as incumbent members of the Board, each of the Board’s
nominees has made significant contributions to the Board’s
deliberations and has proven that each has the integrity,
knowledge, breadth of relevant and diverse experience, and proven
commitment necessary to oversee the Fund as it continues to
successfully execute on its investment objective;
- That each of the Board’s nominees serves on the boards of
trustees of other exchange-listed closed-end funds, closed-end
interval funds, and open-end funds;
- That each of the Board’s nominees has substantial experience
protecting the interests of fund shareholders;
- That each of the Board’s nominees, as part of their service as
trustees on the boards of multiple closed-end funds, has experience
regularly evaluating issues unique to closed-end funds, including
the strategies for mitigating the discount at which closed-end
funds’ shares may trade relative to their net asset value per share
(“NAV”);
- That the election of the Board’s nominees will promote the
continuity of the Fund’s oversight and governance, which the Board
believes is critical as the Board navigates the Fund through an
unprecedented period of macroeconomic uncertainty and market
volatility driven by heightened concerns about the COVID-19 global
pandemic.
Consider the extremely impressive backgrounds and credentials of
each of the Board’s nominees:
Diane P. Durnin
- Experienced asset management executive who previously served as
vice chair of Dreyfus, one of the world’s largest asset management
organizations and a subsidiary of BNY Mellon Investment
Management.
- Extensive knowledge of investment product strategy and
development.
- Contributes to the Board’s diversity as one of four women on
the Board.
- As the Board’s newest member, having first joined the Board in
January 2020, provides the Board with fresh insights and
perspectives.
Benjamin M. Friedman
- Internationally renowned economist, the William Joseph Maier
Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University, and former
Chairman of Harvard’s Department of Economics.
- Previously served as an adviser to the Congressional Budget
Office and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
- Author and/or editor of eleven books aimed primarily at
economists and economic policymakers, as well as the author of more
than one hundred fifty articles on monetary economics,
macroeconomics, and monetary and fiscal policy, published in
numerous journals.
- Brings expertise on the impact of monetary and fiscal policy on
financial markets, especially relevant to your Fund in the current
market environment where uniquely disruptive, economic headwinds
are being countered by equally unprecedented government
intervention and stimulus.
Kenneth J. Taubes
- Serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer
of Amundi Pioneer overseeing an investment staff of over 90
professionals and, as of June 30, 2020, approximately $85 billion
in assets.
- Brings 40+ years of asset management experience with proven
success across capabilities and strategies, including other
closed-end funds.
- Deep understanding of fixed income markets and a strong
performance record as a portfolio manager executing fixed income
strategies both at Amundi Pioneer and previously at another asset
management firm.
IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE BOARD’S HIGHLY QUALIFIED, HIGHLY
CREDENTIALED, AND GENDER-DIVERSE SLATE OF NOMINEES, YOUR BOARD
BELIEVES THAT SABA’S ALL-MALE SLATE OF NOMINEES, HANDPICKED FROM
THE SABA NOMINEE BULLPEN, LACKS ANY RELEVANT EXPERIENCE, SKILL
SETS, OR COMPETENCIES NOT ALREADY PRESENT AMONG THE CURRENT MEMBERS
OF THE BOARD.
- Shareholders should be aware that Saba’s proposed nominees,
which include no women, would, if elected, reduce the Board’s
gender diversity.
- In stark contrast to the Board’s three highly qualified,
credentialed, and experienced nominees, all of whom are current
members of the Board and deeply familiar with the Fund and its
investment strategies, Saba’s proposed nominees are likely
unfamiliar with the Fund and its investment strategies.
- Shareholders should question how the election of Saba’s
proposed nominees could jeopardize the continuity of the Fund’s
oversight and governance during an unprecedented period of
macroeconomic uncertainty and market volatility.
- All of Saba’s proposed nominees, coming from Saba’s “bullpen”
of “nominees for hire,” have a history of serving as Saba’s
nominees in other proxy contests against closed-end funds. One of
Saba’s nominees serves on the boards of trustees of two of the
Fund’s competitors as a result of recent proxy contests by
Saba.
- In addition, Saba’s proposed nominees are participants in
Saba’s proxy solicitation to advance a proposal to terminate the
Fund’s investment adviser, which the Board believes is extremely
irresponsible since, with no replacement investment adviser
identified, it could leave the Fund “orphaned” and without any
investment adviser to execute the investment objective that
attracted shareholders to the Fund.
- Shareholders should also be aware that Saba, to date, has not
been willing to make any of its proposed nominees available for
interviews by members of the Board. Shareholders should ask
themselves what it is about Saba’s proposed nominees that Saba was
afraid the Board might learn through such interviews.
We call to the attention of shareholders some of our specific
concerns with Saba’s proposed nominees:
Charles I. Clarvit
- Given Mr. Clarvit’s historical ties to Saba, including his past
service as a nominee on Saba’s behalf at other closed-end funds
targeted by Saba and recently, through its proxy contests at two
other closed-end funds, causing him to be elected to the boards of
both funds, can shareholders be confident that he will objectively
represent their interests, particularly when the interests of Saba
conflict with those of other shareholders?
Stephen J. Flanagan
- Lacks relevant closed-end fund experience that would be
additive to your Board, and his only connection to the investment
management industry appears to be his service as a nominee for Saba
at other closed-end funds targeted by Saba.
- While Saba cites Mr. Flanagan’s “leadership experience at the
helm of a major client services company” as a qualification to
serve as a trustee of the Fund, the Board does not see how Mr.
Flanagan’s client services skill set is relevant to the Board’s
oversight role in ensuring that the Fund continues to successfully
execute on its investment objective while at the same time
mitigating the Fund’s discount to its NAV and protecting the Fund’s
investors from the myriad of risks that a closed-end fund focused
on fixed income investments is subject to.
Frederic Gabriel
- Saba cites Mr. Gabriel’s “entrepreneurial expertise having
founded a real estate investment firm” as a qualification
supporting his ability to serve on the Board. However, this “real
estate investment firm” appears to be a far cry from a closed-end
investment fund as complex as the Fund and, according to his firm’s
website, its asset portfolio consists of two residential properties
in Jersey City, New Jersey that Mr. Gabriel is in the process of
refurbishing.
- While Mr. Gabriel’s entrepreneurial spirit may be laudable, he
does not appear to have any experience that would be relevant to
overseeing a registered closed-end fund, including any experience
overseeing a portfolio of bank loans and other fixed income
investments during one of the most turbulent and risky economic
periods that the asset class has ever confronted.
Don’t be fooled by Saba and its attempt to have you believe
its proxy contest and its proposed slate of nominees are intended
to improve the Fund and its returns.
We have little doubt that Saba, through its proxy contest and
its proposed nominees, is not seeking to enhance the Fund’s
performance or the ability of the Fund to meet its stated
investment objective. We believe that Saba’s proxy contest is
nothing more than a transparent tactic intended to facilitate
Saba’s ability to “hijack” the Fund and force a liquidity event,
possibly even a complete liquidation of the Fund, that results in
all of Saba’s shares being cashed-out at a per share price that
approximates NAV, an outcome that would provide Saba with a quick
profit but one that could make the Fund less viable and less able
to meet its investment objective of providing investors with a high
level of current income.
Preserve your Fund’s future and its viability as an
investment vehicle for those investors seeking a high level of
current income by opposing Saba’s self-serving proxy contest, the
three candidates Saba handpicked from its nominee “bullpen,” and
Saba’s potentially devastating proposal to terminate the Fund’s
investment advisory agreement.
Your vote is important, no matter how many shares you
own. Your Board unanimously recommends that shareholders vote
on the WHITE proxy card “FOR
ALL” of the Fund’s highly qualified and very experienced nominees,
all of whom are valued members of your Board, and “AGAINST” Saba’s
proposal to terminate the Fund’s investment advisory agreement with
Amundi Pioneer. You may also vote by telephone or Internet by
following the instructions on the enclosed WHITE proxy card. Your Board encourages you to
vote each WHITE proxy card you
receive.
If you hold shares through a broker, bank, or other custodian,
you will receive voting materials from that firm. You can complete
the WHITE voting instruction
form by internet, telephone, or mail. The voting instruction form
will contain instructions on how to access and utilize those voting
methods. Since this is a contested proxy solicitation, if you do
not give voting instructions to your broker, bank, or other
custodian, pursuant to the rules of the New York Stock Exchange,
your broker, bank, or other custodian will not be able to vote your
shares with respect to the election of trustees or Saba’s proposal
to terminate the Fund’s investment advisory agreement. We urge you
to instruct your broker, bank, or other custodian to vote your
shares on the WHITE proxy
card.
If you have any questions or need assistance in voting your
WHITE proxy card or voting
instruction form, we encourage you to contact our proxy solicitor,
Okapi Partners LLC, at +1 877- 566-1922 (Toll Free).
Please do not return or otherwise vote any other proxy card
or voting instruction form sent to you by Saba—even as a protest
vote against Saba as this may cancel your prior vote for your
Board’s nominees and your vote against Saba’s proposal to terminate
the Fund’s investment advisory agreement. If you have
previously returned a proxy card or voting instruction form sent to
you by Saba, you can change your vote (1) by signing, dating and
returning the enclosed WHITE
proxy card or voting instruction form in the postage-paid envelope
provided herewith; (2) by recording your voting instructions via
telephone or the internet following the instructions on the
enclosed WHITE proxy card or
voting instruction form; or (3) by voting at the Annual Meeting.
Only your latest-dated vote will count.
On behalf of your Board, we thank you for your continued
support. We look forward to communicating further with you in the
coming weeks.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Perna Chairman of the Board of Trustees
If you have any questions, or need assistance
voting your WHITE proxy card,
please contact:
OKAPI Partners 1212 Avenue of the Americas,
24th Floor New York, NY 10036
Telephone for Banks, Brokers, and International
Shareholders: +1 212-297-0720 Shareholders may call toll-free (from
the U.S. and Canada): +1 877-566-1922 Email:
info@okapipartners.com
About Pioneer Floating Rate Trust
Pioneer Floating Rate Trust is an NYSE listed closed-end fund
that seeks a high level of current income. It also seeks capital
preservation as a secondary objective to the extent consistent with
its primary objective.
About Amundi Pioneer Asset Management
Amundi Pioneer is the U.S. business of Amundi, Europe’s largest
asset manager by assets under management and ranked among the ten
largest globally[1]. Boston is one of Amundi’s six main global
investment hubs and offers a broad range of fixed-income, equity,
and multi-asset investment solutions in close partnership with
wealth management firms, distribution platforms, and institutional
investors across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Our long
history of proprietary research, robust risk management,
disciplined investment processes, and strong client relationships
has made Amundi Pioneer an investment adviser of choice among
leading institutional and individual investors worldwide. Amundi
Pioneer had approximately $85 billion in assets under management as
of June 30, 2020.
[1]
Source IPE “Top 400 asset managers”
published in June 2020 and based on AUM as of December 31,
2019.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release is not an offer to purchase nor a
solicitation of an offer to sell shares of the Fund. This press
release may contain statements regarding plans and expectations for
the future that constitute forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
(the “PSLRA”), and such statements are intended to qualify for the
safe harbors from liability established by the PSLRA. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking and can sometimes be identified as such by the
context of the statements, including words such as “believe,”
“could,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “would,”
“should,” “intend,” “possible,” “continue” “project,” “estimate,”
“guidance” and other similar terms and phrases, whether in the
negative or affirmative, although not all forward-looking
statements include these words. Similarly, statements that describe
the objectives, plans, or goals of the Fund or its investment
adviser are forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the proxy
contest by Saba and the other participants in its solicitation of
proxies from the Fund’s shareholders in connection with the matters
to be considered at the Fund’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders,
the potential impact to the Fund if Saba’s three proposed nominees
are elected to the Fund’s Board of Trustees in lieu of the three
incumbent trustees recommended for re-election by the Fund’s Board
of Trustees, the potential impact to the Fund if Saba is successful
in having its proposal to terminate the Fund’s investment adviser
terminated and the Fund is left without a replacement investment
adviser, the Fund’s efforts to drive investment returns and
continue to create shareholder value, the ability of the Fund to
continue to perform well against it peers and its benchmark index,
the ability of the Fund to mitigate the gap between its net asset
value per share and the Fund’s per share trading price, the
potential impact to the Fund if it pursues a liquidity event as a
result of Saba’s proxy contest, the viability of the Fund as an
investment vehicle, taking into consideration its stated investment
objective, if it was to pursue a liquidity event as a result of
Saba’s proxy contest, the impact on the Fund if it needed to sell
assets to fund a liquidity event, the ability of the Fund to
generate attractive multi-year returns as the economy recovers, and
the ability of the Fund to continue to execute against its stated
investment objective. These forward-looking statements are based on
current plans, expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections
and management’s current beliefs and assumptions and are subject to
various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results,
performance, and events to differ materially from those described
in the Fund’s forward-looking statements. Additionally, past
performance is no guarantee of future results. Additional
information concerning such risks and uncertainties are or will be
contained in the Fund’s filings with the SEC, including the Fund’s
Annual Report to Shareholders on Form N-CSR for the fiscal year
ended November 30, 2019, and its subsequent filings with the SEC.
These factors should be considered carefully and readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements. Except as required by applicable law, the Fund
undertakes no obligation to revise these statements, whether to
reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events
or otherwise, following the date of this press release.
Important Additional Information And Where To Find It
The Fund’s trustees, executive officers, and certain persons
associated with the Fund’s investment adviser and its parent
company are deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from
the Fund’s shareholders in connection with the matters to be
considered at the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. On August 3,
2020, the Fund filed a definitive proxy statement and an
accompanying definitive WHITE
proxy card with the SEC in connection with the solicitation of
proxies from the Fund’s shareholders in connection with the matters
to be considered at the Fund’s 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Information regarding the names of the Fund’s trustees, executive
officers, and certain persons associated with the Fund’s investment
adviser and its parent company and their respective direct or
indirect interests in the Fund by security holdings or otherwise
can be found in such definitive proxy statement, including the
schedules and appendices thereto. INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS ARE
STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO READ ANY SUCH PROXY STATEMENT AND THE
ACCOMPANYING WHITE PROXY CARD AND
OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED BY THE FUND WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN
THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Shareholders may obtain the definitive
proxy statement, any amendments or supplements to the proxy
statement, the accompanying WHITE proxy card, and other documents filed by
the Fund with the SEC for no charge at the SEC’s website at
www.sec.gov. Copies will also be available free of charge at the
Fund’s website at https://www.amundipioneer.com/us, by writing to
the Fund’s Secretary at Pioneer Floating Rate Trust, 60 State
Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02109, or by contacting the Fund’s
investor relations department at 1.800.859.8508.
Disclaimer
The Fund has neither sought nor obtained the consent from any
third party to use any statements or information contained in this
press release that have been obtained or derived from statements
made or published by any such third party. Any such statements or
information should not be viewed as indicating the support of any
such third party for the views expressed herein.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200814005060/en/
Prosek Partners Brian Schaffer (646) 818-9229
bschaffer@prosek.com
Josh Clarkson (646) 818-9259 jclarkson@prosek.com
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