Frank Gooch will be the next chairman of the Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Wilson Asset Management-backed ethical listed investment company Hunter Hall Global Value, filling a role that was vacated at HHV's fiery extraordinary general meeting in April.
The long-serving managing director of the $2.9 billion listed investment company Milton Corp joins just as Soul Patts chairman Robert Millner steps aside.
Mr Millner agreed to serve on the HHV board briefly while it developed a new strategy, one that will explicitly target dividend growth. Shareholders will also get free options, potentially doubling the size of the LIC in 18 months' time, HHV said in a statement on Tuesday.
Directors will accept lower fees of $40,000 from $60,000 and the chairman will earn $60,000 from $96,000 previously.
Major shareholder Wilson Asset Management requisitioned a special meeting in April seeking new governance after a bitter feud that culminated in former HHV chairman Paul Jensen's exit.
Simmering tensions behind-the-scenes at the listed investment company spilled into public when Peter Hall, the founder of Hunter Hall, resigned from the investment manager in December 2016 and set off a bidding war. Hunter Hall has since been consumed by the Pengana Capital Group making Pengana the investment manager for HHV.
Wilson Asset Management chairman Geoff Wilson endorsed Mr Gooch's appointment, suggesting HHV could grow to become the largest global LIC on the ASX long-term. "I am pleased Pengana is acting on our long-held recommendations," he said, citing a new board, progressive dividend policy, options issuance and improved shareholder engagement.
"It is a great shame the previous board was unwilling to act in shareholders' interests and execute these initiatives. Unfortunately their disregard for all shareholders has come at a cost to the current HHV shareholders." The strategy appeared "very positive".
"The early signs of renewed leadership under Pengana look extremely promising," Mr Wilson said. "We look forward to ensuring Pengana and the HHV board remain focused on looking after all shareholders."
HHV has also managed to extract lower fees out of Pengana. It will now pay 1.2 per cent instead of 1.5 per cent as the annual base fee.
In exchange, HHV and Pengana have agreed to reset the performance fee trigger so that all historical underperformance will be erased and Pengana can earn performance fees without having to crawl back from the red. HHV's portfolio had been slammed with large exposures to the downgraded biotech stock Sirtex and gold miners.
HHV assured investors "the current ethical screen will be retained in its entirety". That being true, Soul Patts - part-owner of coal group New Hope - is also Pengana's biggest shareholder, and remains the second-biggest investor in HHV.
HHV directors Julian Constable and current chairman David Groves will remain on the board, joined by Russel Pillemer who is the co-founder of Pengana. Mr Gooch is expected to take the chairman's role from November's annual general meeting.
HHV shares rose 4¢ to $1.10.
