Overview
Alliance Trust, based in Dundee, is one of the oldest and largest investment companies. It has a global portfolio and adopts a ‘manager of managers’ approach – an investment adviser, Willis Towers Watson, has selected nine investment managers each of which invests in a high conviction (i.e. concentrated) collection of stocks – their best ideas. Between them, they cover a range of value, growth or quality stock picking styles. The idea is that the approach reduces the risk that is often taken by investors selecting a single, star manager or one particular style that can move in and out of favour. One of the managers also runs an additional, more diversified, portfolio of companies located in emerging markets.
We have written a note which explains how the trust works – A trust for all seasons – published in November 2020
You can access the trust’s website here
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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08 Dec 2020 3 min read
QuotedData’s ESG Conference – week 3 Governance day playback
On the 8th December QuotedData hosted the last of three ESG focused webinars. This Governance webinar included presentations and Q&As from 4 investment companies’ managers focused on targeting underlying companies actively improving corporate governance practices and addressing inequality. We would like to thank all our speakers and our attendees for joining us. Click below to watch the presentations. David […]
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25 Nov 2020 23 min read
Alliance Trust – A trust for all seasons
A trust for all seasons Alliance Trust (ATST) underwent a major overhaul three and a half years ago, refocusing on its global equity portfolio. Non-core parts of the company have been sold and overheads slashed. Today, the trust’s assets are managed by nine of the world’s best stock pickers. Investing sustainably is a strong theme […]
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23 min read
Alliance Trust – A trust for all seasons
A trust for all seasons Alliance Trust (ATST) underwent a major overhaul three and a half years ago, refocusing on its global equity portfolio. Non-core parts of the company have been sold and overheads slashed. Today, the trust’s assets are managed by what the manager believes are nine of the world’s best stock pickers. Investing […]
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23 min read
Alliance Trust – A trust for all seasons
A trust for all seasons Alliance Trust (ATST) underwent a major overhaul three and a half years ago, refocusing on its global equity portfolio. Non-core parts of the company have been sold and overheads slashed. Today, the trust’s assets are managed by nine of the world’s best stock pickers. Investing sustainably is a strong theme […]
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10 Aug 2020 6 min read
QuotedData’s Economic Roundup – August 2020
Economic & Political Roundup Kindly sponsored by Allianz A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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24 Jul 2020 2 min read
Interview with Craig Baker on Alliance Trust
Interview with Craig Baker on Alliance Trust In this week’s show, James Carthew talked to Craig Baker, chief investment officer of Willis Towers Watson and chairman of the investment committee of Alliance Trust. Craig explains how the global investment trust is managed. Watch it again here We’ll be back next week (31 July at 11am), […]
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14 Jul 2020 13 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Second Quarter 2020
Investment Companies Quarterly Roundup Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Table of contents In this issue Performance data Positive movers Negative movers Discounts and premiums Getting more expensive Getting cheaper Money in and out Money in Money out Major news stories Upcoming Events New research Guide The legal bit When the going gets […]
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07 Aug 2019 7 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – August 2019
Economic & Political Roundup A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell any of the […]
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08 May 2019 4 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – May 2019
Investment Companies Roundup New research Over April, we published notes on Henderson Diversified Income, Ecofin Global Utilities and Infrastructure, Jupiter Emerging and Frontier Income, Seneca Global Income & Growth and Polar Capital Global Financials Trust. You can read all these notes by clicking on the links above or by visiting www.quoteddata.com. In this issue Performance data – it was […]
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05 Apr 2019 6 min read
QuotedData’s economic roundup – April 2019
Kindly sponsored by Polar Capital Economic & Political Roundup A collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy […]
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18 Jan 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – January 2019
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – January 2019 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of December 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Extract from money raised and returned in December The only new issue […]
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13 Nov 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – November 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – November 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of October 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Winners and losers in October In what was generally a miserable month for equity markets, Brazil shone […]
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16 Oct 2018 2 min read
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018
Quarterly Investment Companies Roundup – Third Quarter 2018 Global equities delivered positive returns over the third quarter of 2018. This was principally because of strength in the US market. Political uncertainty and concerns about global trade held back other regions. Generally, government bond yields rose over the quarter. The UK equity market fell as the Bank of […]
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14 Sep 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – September 2018 is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of August 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Money raised and returned in August GRIT Real Estate Income floated on the UK Stock Exchange in […]
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15 Aug 2018 2 min read
QuotedData’s Economic round up – August 2018
QuotedData’s Economic round up – August 2018 is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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11 Jun 2018 2 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – June 2018
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – June 2018 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of May 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. The premium of biotech company, Syncona, rose on positive news on two of its […]
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11 May 2018 1 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – May 2018
QuotedData investment companies roundup – May 2018 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of April 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. India Capital Growth has experience a rebound in performance in the past month, as […]
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25 Apr 2018 2 min read
Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018
Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018 Quarterly investment companies roundup – First quarter 2018 – Global equity markets declined in the first quarter of 2018. Concerns about US interest rate rises were the feature of the first half of the quarter. However, worries about global trade took over in the second part, particularly […]
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13 Mar 2018 2 min read
QuotedData’s investment companies roundup – March 2018
QuotedData investment companies roundup – March 2018 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2018. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Equity markets continued to run up in early February, supported by strong corporate earnings […]
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18 Jan 2018 2 min read
QuotedData – 2017 review of the year
QuotedData – 2017 review of the year – Many commentators, including us, were wary going into 2017. In the event, economic growth and markets surprised on the upside: US markets hit new highs despite three interest rate rises. Perceived low/no growth areas such as Europe and Japan burst into life. Asia’s technology stocks surged. India’s […]
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11 Dec 2017 2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – December 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – December 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of November 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. December Investment Companies Roundup Money raised and returned in November There were no […]
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19 Oct 2017 2 min read
Quarterly investment companies roundup – Third quarter 2017
Quarterly investment companies roundup – Third quarter 2017 – Markets moved up a little over the course of the three months ended 30 September 2017. Regionally, emerging markets did well. The pound strengthened a bit relative to the US dollar but was flat against the euro. The oil price rose by more than 20%. In […]
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14 Sep 2017 2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – September 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – September 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of August 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. September Investment Companies Roundup Winners and losers in August Ashmore Global’s […]
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03 Aug 2017 3 min read
QuotedData’s economic round up – August 2017
QuotedData’s economic round up – August 2017 – is a collation of recent insights on markets and economies taken from the comments made by chairmen and investment managers of investment companies – have a read and make your own minds up. Please remember that nothing in this note is designed to encourage you to buy or sell […]
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2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – August 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – August 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of July 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. August Investment Companies Roundup Monthly NAV/Price moves: A couple of themes stand out […]
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12 Jul 2017 2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – July 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – July 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of June 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. July Investment Companies Roundup Money raised in July Newly launched in June were […]
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14 Jun 2017 2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – June 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup – June 2017 – is our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of May 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. June Investment Companies Roundup Japan was one of the best places to be […]
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16 May 2017 2 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – May 2017
QuotedData investment companies roundup: Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of April 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. Money in: The only new launch in April was EJF Investments, a £69m fund trying to take advantage of […]
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10 Apr 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – April 2017
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. April Investment Companies Roundup
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15 Mar 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – March 2017
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of February 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. March Investment Companies Roundup
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14 Feb 2017 1 min read
QuotedData investment companies roundup – February 2017
Our latest roundup of news; price, NAV and discount movements; flows in and out of the sector and report on full year dividends announced over the month of January 2017. Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford. February Investment Companies Roundup
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31 Jan 2017 1 min read
QuotedData – 2016 review of the year
Our review of 2016 includes performance data, significant moves in discounts and premiums, money raised and money handed back, major news stories and links to the research we have published including our guide to investment companies. 2016 Annual roundup
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11 Jul 2016 1 min read
Drum Income Plus REIT – They say good things come in small packages
Drum Income Plus REIT (DRIP) is focused on acquiring properties that do not suit the portfolios of the large institutional and overseas buyers, who are targeting larger lot sizes. Its managers say that, by focusing on a less crowded market, DRIP is able to achieve a yield advantage over other property investment companies. DRIP is itself […]
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16 Dec 2015 1 min read
Henderson Global Trust – Searching for change
Henderson Global Trust is one of the smaller members of the AIC’s global sector, which gives its manager the option to look further down the market cap scale. Its more moderate size hasn’t inflated overall costs. The trust, which pays quarterly dividends, offers one of the highest yields in its peer group, whilst trading at […]
News
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04 Feb 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 February 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 February 2021: SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust have announced a £100m placing (94.3m shares at 106p). The price is a 3.9% premium to the end September NAV and a 1.4% discount to last night’s closing price. The money would go into commercial and industrial solar projects across the United States in […]
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04 Dec 2020 3 min read
QD view – Good governance might start with you
On Tuesday next week we will hold the third and final day of our ESG conference and the main focus will be on governance. The importance of this area to investors cannot be understated. Just think of the damage done at BHS, Carilion, Wirecard, Patisserie Valerie, Boohoo and Volkswagen. It wasn’t just investors taking the […]
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23 Oct 2020 2 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 23 October 2020
QuotedData’s weekly news show 23 October 2020 Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on youtube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: A change of direction for Baring Emerging Europe A new manager for Alliance Trust A new meeting requisition […]
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19 Oct 2020 2 min read
Alliance swaps FPA for Lomas
Alliance swaps FPA for Lomas – Alliance Trust reports that its investment manager, Willis Towers Watson, has appointed Lomas Capital Management LLC as managers to a portfolio for its multi-manager investment strategy. Alliance Trust’s assets are managed by nine expert stock pickers. Each of these runs a high conviction, 20-stock portfolio. Lomas’ investment process identifies economic […]
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06 Mar 2020 3 min read
Alliance Trust beats benchmark in first annual results since completing simplification process
The global sector company, Alliance Trust (ATST), has published annual results to 31 December 2019. Total NAV and shareholder returns were 23.1% and 24.3%, ahead of the benchmark’s (MSCI ACWI) 21.7% and the median global sector peer group’s 22.4%. ATST also noted that it increased its dividend for the 53rd consecutive year. On the corporate side, one […]
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02 Sep 2019 1 min read
Vulcan Value Partners joins Alliance Trust’s manager line up
Alliance Trust has announced that Willis Towers Watson, its appointed investment manager, has added a new stock picker, Vulcan Value Partners (VVP), to its list of list underlying investment managers. Alliance Trust follows, what it describes as, a “best-in-class multi-manager investment strategy”. The appointment of VVP takes the number of stock pickers selected for the Trust […]
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25 Jul 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 25 July 2019
In QuotedData’s other news 25 July 2019: FastForward Innovations (FFWD), which typically invests in companies that it perceives as having significant intellectual property rights, has agreed to an extension (to 31 July 2019) of the terms of its simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with Factom, an Austria-based blockchain technology company. FFWD describes Factom as specialising […]
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2 min read
Alliance Trust beats benchmark in first results since completing transformation
Alliance Trust beats benchmark in first results since completing transformation – Alliance Trust (ATST) has published half-year results to 30 June 2019. Over the period, the company completed the process of simplifying itself following the disposal of Alliance Trust Savings; 99.5% of the portfolio is now allocated to global equities. Chairman’s take ATST’s chairman, Lord […]
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01 Jul 2019 1 min read
QuotedData’s other news 1 July 2019
In QuotedData’s other news 1 July 2019 Symphony International (SIHL) announced that it has, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, invested in Creative Technology Solutions. The company provides customized IT solutions to the education sector in the United Arab Emirates and increasingly in other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. This represents SIHL’s first investment into the Gulf. […]
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1 min read
Alliance Trust completes transformation with subsidiary sale for £40m
Alliance Trust completes transformation with subsidiary sale for £40m – Alliance Trust (ATST) has announced the completion of the sale of its subsidiary company, Alliance Trust Savings, to Interactive Investor. The total deal value is £40m; ATST expects the net proceeds to be £34.5m, which will be re-invested into its global equity portfolio. The global […]
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01 Mar 2019 2 min read
Alliance Trust’s equity portfolio underperformed in 2018
Alliance Trust’s equity portfolio underperformed in 2018 – Alliance Trust has published results for 2018. Highlights were: Total shareholder return for 2018 was -6.1% (2017: 19.2%) and its share price at 31 December 2018 was 688.0p, down 7.8% compared to 746.5p at 31 December 2017 NAV total return for 2018 was -5.4% (2017:18.5%) and its NAV […]
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22 Oct 2018 2 min read
Interactive Investor buys Alliance Trust Savings
Interactive Investor buys Alliance Trust Savings – Alliance Trust has agreed the sale of its subsidiary company Alliance Trust Savings (ATS) to Interactive Investor, the UK’s second largest investment platform. Lord Smith of Kelvin, Alliance Trust’s chairman, commented: “The board is pleased to announce the sale of ATS to Interactive Investor. The two businesses are highly complementary […]
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09 Mar 2018 2 min read
Alliance Trust writes off goodwill on Stocktrade deal
Alliance Trust writes off goodwill on Stocktrade deal – Alliance Trust has published its results for the year ended 31 December 2017. These show an improvement in its performance as its equity portfolio outperformed its MSCI ACWI benchmark over the year by 4.2%. This helped drive an NAV total return of 18.5% versus a return of […]
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18 Dec 2017 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on Biotech
Investment Trust Insider on Biotech – inspired by the launch of our biotech news service on QuotedData, I wrote something for Citywire that looks at some of the exciting stories that have been published just in the last couple of weeks. James Carthew: biotech boom boosts generalist trusts This week I am returning to the […]
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09 May 2017 1 min read
Investment Trust Insider on Alliance Trust
Alliance Trust (ATST) has completed the buyback of Elliott’s stake in the company and removed the immediate threat to its future existence – but now the hard work starts. It will be looking to deliver measurable outperformance of its peer group and its benchmark in order to secure its long-term future. Shareholders are still heading […]
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03 Apr 2017 1 min read
Alliance Trust appoints Willis Towers Watson as manager & completes sale of Alliance Trust Investments
Alliance Trust has confirmed the appointment of Willis Towers Watson (WTW) to manage the Trust’s equity portfolio1, effective from 1 April 2017. As previously announced, WTW has, on behalf of the Trust, selected eight equity managers and the transition to these managers will be completed before the Trust’s AGM. Alliance Trust has also completed the […]
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21 Feb 2017 3 min read
Alliance Trust seeks to clarify Willis Towers Watson role
Alliance Trust has released a statement in an attempt to clear up any perceived conflict of interest in the appointment of Willis Towers Watson. We have reproduced this in full below: As announced in May 2016, the Board of Alliance Trust undertook a Strategic Review of the Trust to determine its future direction. The Board […]
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10 Feb 2017 1 min read
Alliance Trust removes the shackles by buying out Elliott but has it done enough?
The activist investor, responsible the massive recent changes at the Victorian era trust, has built up a near twenty per cent stake, that was spoiling investor sentiment following the implementation of a new investment strategy. read more here
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27 Jan 2017 2 min read
Alliance Trust to repurchase Elliott Advisors’ 20% stake
Alliance Trust has announced that it has entered into an agreement with its largest shareholder, Elliott International, L.P., The Liverpool Limited Partnership and Elliott Associates L.P. (collectively Elliott), to repurchase all ordinary shares in the Company in respect of which Elliott has a disclosable interest – this being 19.75% of Alliance Trust’s issued share capital. […]
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16 Jan 2017 6 min read
Alliance Trust provides update on changes to managing its equity portfolio
Following its strategic review, Alliance Trust announced, on 15 December 2016, proposals under which its equity portfolio would move from being run using a single manager to a multi-manager approach. The trust has now announced further details of the proposed equity managers and says that a general meeting to approve these changes is to be […]
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15 Dec 2016 1 min read
Alliance Trust completes strategic review
Alliance Trust has made an announcement regarding the outcome of its strategic review. Rather than cut and paste it, we have attached a pdf of the announcement here: 20161215-atst-rns-outcome-of-strategic-review Alliance Trust completes strategic review : ATST
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22 Jul 2016 4 min read
Alliance Trust underperformance reflects turbulent market conditions around the EU referendum
Alliance Trust has announced its interim results for the year ended 30 June 2016. During the period, the trust’s NAV per share increased by 5.4%, whilst its share price increased by 1.4%. The trust also paid dividends of 5.65p (2015: 5.065p). Share price total return, including the dividends was 2.6% whilst NAV total return was […]
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01 Jul 2016 1 min read
Activist building stake in British Empire
According to an article in the Daily Telegraph (which you can access here), Elliott Advisors (the activist investor in Alliance Trust) has built up a 5% stake in British Empire worth £32m. So far neither side has commented on the story. BTEM : Activist building stake in British Empire
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07 Jun 2016 1 min read
RIT Capital will not bid for Alliance Trust
No intention to make an offer for Alliance Trust plc On 31 May 2016, RIT Capital Partners announced that the possibility of combining the Company with Alliance Trust for the benefit of both sets of shareholders was at a preliminary stage of consideration. Following careful analysis and constructive discussions with representatives of Alliance Trust, RIT Capital […]
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03 Jun 2016 1 min read
PA ANALYSIS: A lot at stake in ‘unsurprising’ RIT/Alliance bid
That there was a bid for Alliance Trust announced on Tuesday was a lot less surprising for many commentators than that it was the Rothschild Investment Trust contemplating the offer. See more here
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31 May 2016 3 min read
RIT Capital Partners says Alliance Trust approach “very preliminary”
Alliance Trust has made an announcement in response to the press speculation over the weekend. They say, as communicated to shareholders in October of last year and more recently at the time of the publication of the annual results in March this year, a number of significant changes to Alliance Trust have been implemented in […]
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04 Mar 2016 2 min read
Things looking up at Alliance Trust
Alliance Trust reports a 5.4% total return on net assets and a 10.7% return to shareholders for the year ended 31 December 2015 this compares to the MSCI ACWI benchmark return of 3.8%. The total dividend is 12.43p, up 0.4% on 2014. Alliance Trust Investments (ATI) generated net inflows of £81m, ending the year with […]
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15 Feb 2016 1 min read
Katherine Garrett-Cox to leave Alliance Trust Investments in March 2016
Alliance Trust has announced that Katherine Garrett-Cox (pictured) will stand down as chief executive of its management company, Alliance Trust Investments Limited (also a subsidiary of Alliance Trust ), and will be leaving the company on 11 March 2016. The company says that this follows discussions between the Board and Katherine about the future requirement […]
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04 Feb 2016 1 min read
Alliance Trust becomes “externally” managed
Alliance Trust Investments Limited has become the Investment Manager and Alternative Investment Fund Manager (“AIFM”) to Alliance Trust with effect from 3 February 2016 – so Alliance Trust has become externally managed (although Alliance Trust Investments is a subsidiary of Alliance Trust). Alliance Trust Investments has also replaced The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch (“BNYM”) as […]
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16 Dec 2015 1 min read
Alliance Trust provides update on its progress
On 1 October 2015, Alliance Trust announced a series of changes that its said were designed to enhance shareholder value. In advance of the end of the financial year on 31 December 2015, the company has provided an update on the progress that has been made on implementing these changes. Rather than copying and pasting […]
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01 Oct 2015 2 min read
Major shake up at Alliance Trust
Following consultation with its shareholders, Alliance Trust has announced a raft of measures that the board believes will position the company to “deliver consistent outperformance in a cost-effective manner”. These include changes to the board structure, changes to the management arrangements, focus on cost reductions, disposal of legacy assets and a new benchmark. The board believe the new […]
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29 Sep 2015 1 min read
Will new Alliance Trust directors bring change to the trust?
The appointment of two new non-executive directors at Alliance Trust should reassure shareholders but pressure remains to deliver improved performance at the trust, experts say. http://www.fundweb.co.uk/news-and-analysis/will-new-alliance-trust-directors-bring-change-to-the-trust/2023856.article
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24 Aug 2015 4 min read
Busy H1 leaves Acencia’s NAV little changed
Over the six months to the end of June 2015, Acencia Debt Strategies (which is now reporting its results in US dollars for the first time) saw total return on net asset value of 1.8% to US$1.73 (NAV was flat – return is down to dividends paid). Total Shareholder returns were up 0.1% per cent to a share […]
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23 Jul 2015 1 min read
Unspecified change promised at Alliance Trust
Over the first half of 2015, Alliance Trust delivered a return on net assets of 1.4% and a return to shareholders of 2.7%. The NAV return would make them 29th of 36 funds in their peer group and compares to a return on the MSCI AC World Index of 2.1%. Their equity portfolio underperformed that […]
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14 May 2015 1 min read
Alliance Trust buying Stocktrade
Alliance Trust is to buy Stocktrade from Brewin Dolphin in an effort to bolster its Alliance Trust Savings business. They say the deal has the potential to add more than 48,000 new customers and £4.6bn of new assets into ATS across three main channels; direct customers, intermediary customers and strategic partnerships. The purchase price is […]
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28 Apr 2015 1 min read
Alliance Trust and Elliott reach a compromise, for now
Alliance Trust has announced this morning that they have reached an agreement with their largest shareholder, Elliott Advisers, whereby Elliott has agreed to withdraw its three resolutions from the Alliance Trust AGM on 29 April 2015 and has committed to support the Board and management on all other resolutions. As part of the deal, both the […]
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31 Mar 2015 10 min read
Alliance vs. Elliott – closing arguments
First – Karin Forseke (Alliance Trust’s Chairman)’s message to shareholders in the circular convening the meeting: “Dear Shareholder, Who are Elliott and what do they really want? Our Company has been requisitioned by Elliott Advisors (UK) Ltd. to appoint three additional directors to the Board of Alliance Trust. Your Board believes this is just the […]
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27 Mar 2015 1 min read
Cost-conscious Alliance Trust chief braces for onslaught
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a188bda4-ccbb-11e4-b5a5-00144feab7de.html#axzz3Vbb2O0ko Cost-conscious Alliance Trust chief braces for onslaught David Oakley, Judith Evans and Miles Johnson
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20 Mar 2015 9 min read
Alliance versus Elliott – with updates
Alliance Trust has published its rejection of Elliott’s proposals. for the sake of completeness we have reproduced the entire statement below but the thrust of it is that Elliott’s nominees wouldn’t be independent, would have a short-term agenda, might initiate moves that could threaten the dividend and the jobs of 250 Alliance Trust employees. They […]
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16 Mar 2015 5 min read
Alliance Trust targeted by Elliott
Elliott Advisors, which holds a 12% stake in Alliance Trust, has today called for three directors of its choosing to be put onto the Alliance Trust Board. They say they have concerns over corporate governance which they have raised with the company but didn’t feel they were getting a meaningful response. The three nominees are Anthony […]
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06 Mar 2015 2 min read
Alliance Trust lags MSCI World by 3% but still 2nd quartile
Alliance Trust’s results for 2014 show its net asset value rising by 5.8%. the annual dividend was increased to 12.438p, 14.3% up year on year, and this helped push the fund’s total return on net assets to 8.1%. The share price return was 9%. Unfortunately this is somewhat behind the 11.2% return generated on the […]
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02 Dec 2014 1 min read
The alternative plays in investment trusts
Source: http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/news-and-analysis/analysis/the-alternative-plays-in-investment-trusts/2016533.article Income-seeking investors would do well to look at the alternative plays on offer in the investment companies space, such as renewable energy and asset leasing With interest rates held so low for so long, it is not surprising investors have been looking for alternative ways to generate income. That search is only set to […]
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25 Jul 2014 1 min read
Alliance Trust : ATST – interims
Alliance Trust has published interim figures for the half year ended 30 June 2014. Alliance Trust underperformed slightly during this period – generating a total return on net assets of 0.3% and a return to shareholders of 0.4% compared to a return on the AIC Global sector of 1.6% on net assets and 3.0% on […]
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19 Jun 2014 1 min read
Alliance Trust : ATST
Alliance Trust (headed by Katherine Garrett-Cox pictured) has secured £100m of fixed rate financing through an unsecured private placement note. The notes have a 15 year life (31 July 2014 to 31 July 2029) and pay a coupon of 4.28%. The cash raised is to be used to retire £100m of the ATST’s existing debt (currently £380m – all […]
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07 Mar 2014 1 min read
Alliance Trust : ATST – annual results
Over the year ended 31 December 2013 Alliance Trust generated a total net asset value return of 18.4%. The total return to shareholders was 22.7% as the discount narrowed. Their equity portfolio outperformed the MSCI All Country World Index and Alliance Trust Savings made a profit for the first time in eight years as assets […]
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26 Feb 2014 1 min read
Alliance Trust : ATST – holding in company
Alliance Trust has disclosed that activist group Elliott Capital have a 10% interest in the company comprising a 5% holding in Alliance Trust’s shares and a 5% interest held through contracts for difference. QD comment: The question must be, what is Elliott after? Alliance Trust’s shares are currently trading on a 11.4% discount, having moved […]
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In The Press
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16 Nov 2020 2 min read
Turning limitations into positives
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER • AUTUMN 2020, Connection TURNING LIMITATIONS INTO POSITIVES By Jennifer Hill A lack of consistency across ESG ratings represents a challenge for investors – and an opportunity for active managers to add value… ESG has become a big part of the investment world, but is it more substantial than a marketing gimmick? David […]
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18 Jun 2020 2 min read
Witan IT faces ‘uphill struggle’
Witan IT faces ‘uphill struggle’ as managers lose ‘Midas touch’ By David Brenchley, Investment Week, 15 June 2020 Witan Investment Trust faces “an uphill struggle to repair the material damage inflicted upon what is a strong brand”, according to one broker, as analysts weigh up the 111-year-old trust’s prospects after its managers admitted they may […]
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30 Apr 2019 1 min read
QuotedData quoted in Alliance Trust newsletter
QuotedData quoted in Alliance Trust newsletter – talking about Alliance Trust’s sale of its mineral rights, QuotedData’s James Carthew said “As the Trust evolved, the mineral rights were useful, but it makes sense for them to be sold now.” “The changes are designed to simplify the investment proposition. This is good news.” you can read […]
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28 Mar 2019 1 min read
AIC highlights most consistent income trusts
AIC highlights most consistent income trusts – QuotedData’s James Carthew is quoted in this article by Leonora Walters The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has published its annual ‘dividend heroes’ survey – a list of the investment trusts that have increased their dividends for 20 or more consecutive years. This year, there are 20 dividend […]