In a letter to fellow shareholders on Thursday (19 October), the firm's chief investment officer Tom Sharp said investors should vote against the reappointment of the directors "bearing most responsibility" for the trust's current turmoil at the upcoming annual general meeting on 26 October.
"Metage has therefore voted against [chair] Mr Andrew Sutch, Mr Andrew Wilkinson and Mr Paul Burger and encourages all shareholders to do the same," he said.
Hipgnosis Songs strategic review 'unlikely to placate' shareholders
In the letter, Metage raised concerns over poor accounting practices, a pattern of limited disclosures for shareholders, lack of clarity in the board's announcements and failure to comply with the trust's debt obligations.
In a move similar to Asset Value Investors' earlier this week, the CIO deemed SONG's dividend cut announced on Monday (16 October) "extremely disappointing" and argued a strategic review does not solve its underlying problems.
"Investors need clear, reliable financial information and a board that can pay dividends predictably. This one appears incapable of doing either," he said.
The CIO said that the trust's failures span "many aspects" of its operations, including accounting, legal and fundamental commercial judgement, and that to get an "effective" board, it is "essential" that there is a "fast and far-reaching" change in its membership.
Asset Value Investors urges Hipgnosis shareholders to vote against continuation
"If the responsible directors remain on the board during this transition, we fear that they will seek to justify their actions and it will prevent new incoming directors from undertaking a full autopsy of how we have reached this point," he said.
"The risk is a Kabuki Theatre of governance, where boxes are scrupulously ticked, but new directors appointed who will ensure a continuity of mismanagement and a strategic review that decides that the status quo is fine."