The board of ThomasLloyd Energy Impact Trust (TLEI ) can breathe easier after a majority of investors resisted an attempt by the fund manager to replace its non-executive directors.

ThomasLloyd Global Asset Management, which owns 15% of the £177m renewables fund directly and through affiliates, claimed the board did not act in shareholders’ best interests when it suspended the investment trust’s shares in April, following the discovery of massive cost over-runs at its solar construction project in India, and called for a continuation vote.

The asset management firm responded with a requisition calling for the board’s removal despite 58% of shareholders voting to discontinue the company at the end of August.

Yesterday 58% of the voting shareholders opted to retain chair Sue Inglis, and non-executive directors Mukesh Rajani, Kristine Damkjaer, and Clifford Tompsett. Shareholders representing 92.3% of the issued share capital voted at the meeting. Taking into consideration the asset manager’s stake, 63.9% of independent shareholders backed the board.

Earlier this month TLEI served notice on the asset manager and said it was assessing short-term replacements to enable it to publish its delayed annual and half-year reports. This will allow the shares to resume trading.

Meanwhile, the board is assessing long-term candidates for the fund manager role as it may relaunch the fund since ‘shareholders have strongly expressed support for an Asian-focused impact strategy’. A number of experienced fund managers have already expressed interest, it said.