Investors in AIM-listed activist Crystal Amber (CRS ) voiced their fury at the company’s strategy to extend its wind-down as one-third of investors voted against the directors and their pay at an Annual General Meeting on Wednesday.

Results of the AGM show that 33.4% of investors voted against the directors’ renumeration and the re-election of chair Chris Waldron, and directors Fred Hervouet and Jane Le Maitre.

The circular for the AGM stated all three are due to retire ‘in accordance with the AIC code’ which recommends that a board member holds it post for no more than nine years.

20.1% of investors also voted against the re-appointment of KPMG as auditor and the company’s ability to buy back its shares.

The closed-end fund has been in the process of realising assets since March 2022, after a successful activist campaign by Saba Capital, which is currently building its stake in several other trusts, saw shareholders vote against its continuation.

However, in its financial results published at the end of October the company called for patience in the wind-down process as it ‘substantially’ raised its stake in bank note printer De La Rue (DLAR).

Writing in the annual report the chair said that while purchasing more shares might ‘appear contrary to returning funds, given the overall objective of balancing cash returns with the maximisation of shareholder value, the board and investment manager are confident that this is the optimal course’.

Saba, which still holds 26.4% of shares, is a likely participant in the recent negative voting. Other top shareholders include Merseyside Pension and 1607 Capital Partners with 15.5% and 11.4% of shares respectively.

In the annual report the board said it will consult shareholders and seek their approval on a future strategy including ‘steps that might be necessary to maximise the opportunity to realise value from the remaining assets’.