Century Funds Management has been unsuccessful in its bid to replace Opus Capital as the manager of the Opus 21 fund.
At a meeting of Opus 21 unit holders yesterday in Brisbane, Computershare confirmed Century gained over 80 per cent of total votes cast to unseat Opus as manager of the $240 million property trust, but this proved insufficient.
“This is because only around 40 per cent of the register voted. Fifty per cent of the total unit holding voting yes was required to effect a manager change,” Century said in a statement.
Century chairman John McBain said it was unfortunate the process failed unless enough unit holders expressed their views.
“Clearly an overwhelming majority of engaged investors would like to see a new manager, however, under law the 50 per cent of total unitholders test is an extremely high bar to be met and it is an unfortunate reality that the process fails unless sufficient unit holders express their views,” McBain said.
“Having said that, we recognise some investors in Opus 21 can be forgiven for losing heart in their investment.
“Century accepts the absolute determination of the voting process and we genuinely wish unit holders our best wishes for the future under the continued management regime.”
Still, as a result of the campaign, Opus Capital was forced to reduce its standard fees to match Century’s management proposal and also halve its asset sale fees, Century said.
“We are very pleased that we stood up for Opus 21 unit holder rights and we are particularly gratified that we have ensured that Opus 21 fee levels have been reduced to market levels on an ongoing basis,” McBain said.
