Caldwell greed kills rally in UrbanaUp to mid-December, Urbana was rallying nicely and the discount was showing signs of shrinking, in part from the general rise in the market and part from stock buy-backs.
Since the announcement that the Board approved an unjustified 33% increase in the fee rate paid to Caldwell, the rally has been sqwelched, there has been heavy selling and the discount is back at historic highs. Any benefit to the size of the discount from stock buy-backs has been reversed.
There are some obvious measures management and the board could take to greatly improve the attractiveness of Urbana to the market, but, to their discredit, they seem more focused on those actions that serve to undermine the interests of minority shareholders while benefitting Caldwell.
BTW - it's been about 6 months, and counting, since Caldwell's admission to the OSC that they were ripping off their customers by over-charging fees and no word yet of restitution to Urbana.