EVM Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

 

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Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund

Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund

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Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund

NYSE American: EVM

 

Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund

NYSE American: ENX

 

 

George J. Gorman

Chairperson, Board of Trustees

Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund

Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund

 

August 9, 2024

 

Dear Shareholder,

On behalf of the Boards of Trustees (together, the “Board”) of Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund (“EVM”) and Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund (“ENX”) (together, the “Funds”), I urge you to take action to protect each Fund’s overall shareholder base by using the WHITE proxy card to vote FOR the three Board-approved Trustee nominees. I further urge you not to vote for the two nominees proposed on the GOLD proxy card by a known activist investor with an extensive activist campaign history of targeting registered closed-end funds.

The Board-approved proxy statement that you recently received from the Funds provides details on the three incumbent Trustees that the Board recommends be reelected. The proxy statement also highlights information about the ongoing work by the current Board to serve the Funds and shareholders’ interests and provides information on the activist investor and the Board’s review of the nominees proposed by the activist investor. As Chairperson of the Board, I write this letter separately to highlight several key reasons why the current Board – all of whom are independent of Eaton Vance Management, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley – believes that Fund shareholders should vote for the Board-approved Trustee nominees by voting on the WHITE proxy card and not acting on the GOLD proxy card or otherwise responding to communications from the activist investor.

Board-Approved Nominees

Each of the three incumbent Trustees nominated by the Board for re-election and listed on the WHITE proxy card is deeply familiar with the Funds, their investment objectives and strategies, their operations, and the portfolio management teams. The incumbent nominees have extensive experience in overseeing closed-end funds, serving a collective 24 years as Trustees of the Funds and other closed-end funds in the Eaton Vance fund group and consistently acting in the best interests of Funds and their shareholders. Each incumbent nominee has significant experience in the asset management industry. The group includes:

·

A former President and Chief Executive officer of a large investment management firm;

·

A founder of a fintech platform and former partner, portfolio manager and investment strategist at a large investment management firm; and

·

A former portfolio manager and senior quantitative analyst at another, different large investment management firm.

The other current Trustees with whom I serve are also highly qualified individuals with a broad range of industry and professional backgrounds to oversee the Funds and serve shareholder interests. We are independent fiduciaries with a single objective to look out for the interests of the Funds and shareholders.

Activist Investor Nominees

You may have received a separate proxy statement and GOLD proxy card from Saba Capital Management, L.P., Saba Capital Master Fund, Ltd. and Boaz R. Weinstein (collectively, “Saba”). Saba is a known activist investor with an extensive activist campaign history. The Board believes Saba opportunistically targets closed-end funds to seek short-term profits for itself at the expense of other closed-end fund shareholders who have invested in such funds to gain exposure to each Fund’s respective investment objective and strategies. According to industry reporting detailed in the Funds’ proxy statement, since Saba was founded in 2009, it has engaged in more than 150 activist campaigns against closed-end funds, many involving proxy contests, proposals and litigation. In two such campaigns, Saba’s nominees approved replacing the fund’s investment manager with Saba management. Saba has a history of buying fund shares at a discount during periods of market dislocation and then agitating to compel the target fund to take out the Saba position at a higher price, resulting in personal enrichment at the expense of other shareholders. The Board believes these types of actions can interfere with a fund’s investment program, distract management, raise fund expenses (which potentially reduces the fund’s return) and reduce trading liquidity, potentially leading to termination of the fund.

Based on the Saba proxy statement, the two Saba nominees appear to have little or no experience with closed-end funds or with investment company governance under applicable federal and state laws. They have been handpicked by Saba. Although Saba says that the Board “needs fresh ideas and perspectives to address the Fund’s trading discount,” there is no indication what experience these nominees would bring or what ideas that they would bring to help shareholders overall that have not already been considered or implemented by the Funds. Shares of closed-end funds often trade at a discount to their NAV, which is a characteristic of listed closed-end funds that the Board expects active participants in the closed-end funds industry, such as Saba, to be well-aware of, and there is no simple mechanism for narrowing or eliminating a fund’s discount over long-term periods. In fact, according to Saba’s website as of August 7, 2024, both closed-end funds managed by Saba were trading at a discount to their net asset value.

The Board’s Commitment to Shareholder Interests

The Board has maintained a consistent focus on ensuring that each Fund continues to deliver on its investment objective of providing high current income exempt from certain taxes. The Board has approved changes over time in each Fund’s distribution policies, seeking to enhance shareholder returns. For example, in January 2024, the Board approved appreciable increases to each Fund’s monthly distribution rates, increasing EVM’s rate by 31.2% and ENX’s rate by 32.7%. Additionally, the Board-approved share repurchase program authorizes each Fund to repurchase up to 10% of its common shares outstanding as of the last day of the prior calendar year at market prices when shares are trading at a discount to net asset value. The Board also actively manages each Fund’s use of leverage to best position the Fund to maintain its levered exposure at a reasonable cost.

The Board-approved nominees will continue the Board’s focus on the interests of shareholders overall.

Your Vote is Important

I urge you to vote for the Board-approved nominees on the WHITE proxy card to prevent Saba from advancing its self-serving agenda and exposing other shareholders to potential harm.

Please read the Board-approved proxy statement from the Funds, which explains why the Board believes its nominees deserve your vote.

Your vote is extremely important. Please act now to help protect your investment. Using the WHITE card, cast your vote FOR the Board-approved nominees. Voting takes just a few minutes, and can be completed online, at the Annual Meeting, by phone or through the mail by following the instructions on the WHITE proxy card.

Saba representatives may contact you to solicit your vote. Please do not mail in the GOLD proxy card sent by the Saba. Doing so may cancel your vote to support the Funds and their current Board.

Thank you for your vote to support the best interests of all shareholders of the Funds.

Sincerely,

George J. Gorman

Chairperson, Board of Trustees

Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund

Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund

 

 

 

 

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