Overview
Alliance Witan (formerly Alliance Trust, then Alliance Witan after its 9 October 2024 merger with Witan Investment Trust), 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 a number of 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.
You can access the trust’s website here
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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13 Dec 2024 1 min read
Interview with Craig Baker from Alliance Witan
In this week’s show, James Carthew spoke to Craig Baker from Alliance Witan. If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news click here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email Aiman. Additionally, if you would prefer to watch and […]
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19 Sep 2024 17 min read
Alliance Trust – A new powerhouse
A new powerhouse In recent years, we have highlighted the success of Alliance Trust’s (ATST) investment approach, which has, on average, outperformed the MSCI ACWI index over any given 12-month period (sampled weekly – see page 12). This success was an important factor in ATST’s selection as a merger partner for Witan (WTAN), another global […]
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18 min read
Alliance Trust – A new powerhouse
A new powerhouse In recent years, we have highlighted the success of Alliance Trust’s (ATST) investment approach, which has, on average, outperformed the MSCI All Countries World Index (MSCI ACWI) over any given 12-month period (sampled weekly – see page 12). This success was an important factor in ATST’s selection as a merger partner for […]
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17 min read
Alliance Trust – A new powerhouse
A new powerhouse In recent years, we have discussed the improvement in the performance of Alliance Trust since the appointment of Willis Towers Watson (WTW) as manager. With WTW’s investment approach, ATST has, on average, outperformed the MSCI ACWI index over any given 12-month period (sampled weekly – see page 12). This success has been […]
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23 Aug 2024 1 min read
Interview with Craig Baker from Alliance Trust
In this week’s show, James Carthew spoke to Craig Baker from Alliance Trust. If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news click here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email Aiman. Additionally, if you would prefer to […]
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16 Nov 2023 23 min read
Alliance Trust – Coming into its own
Alliance Trust Investment companies | Annual overview | 15 November 2023 Coming into its own Alliance Trust’s (ATST) diversified blend of active managers could be the key factor behind the trust’s performance being ahead of global equities over multiple time frames. ATST appears to have been able to capture benefits of the sentiment shifts in global […]
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23 min read
Alliance Trust – Coming into its own
Alliance Trust Investment companies | Annual overview | 15 November 2023 Coming into its own Thanks in no small part to Alliance Trust’s (ATST) diversified blend of actively managed strategies, the trust’s performance has been ahead of global equity markets over multiple time frames. ATST has been able to capture benefits of the major sentiment shifts […]
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23 min read
Alliance Trust – Coming into its own
Alliance Trust Investment companies | Annual Overview | 15 November 2023 Coming into its own Thanks in no small part to Alliance Trust’s (ATST) diversified blend of active managers, the trust’s performance has been ahead of global equities over multiple time frames. ATST has been able to capture benefits of the major sentiment shifts in global […]
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28 Apr 2023 1 min read
Interview with Craig Baker from Alliance Trust
In this week’s show, James Carthew spoke to Craig Baker from Alliance Trust. If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news, click here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email us on [email protected]. Additionally, if you would prefer […]
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05 Jan 2023 9 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – January 2023
December 2022 Monthly roundup | Investment companies Winners and losers in December 2022 The Financials sector only has two constituents, one of these – Trian Investors 1 – has seen its discount narrow since it promised to return cash to investors by next June, and it has also benefited from underlying NAV appreciation. Last month’s […]
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17 Nov 2022 16 min read
Alliance Trust – Stability in troubled waters
Alliance Trust Investment companies | Update | 17 November 2022 Stability in troubled waters More than five years after it refocused its global equity portfolio, Alliance Trust (ATST) has proven the merits of blending different expertise across different investment styles. Its manager, Willis Towers Watson, has been able to demonstrate the benefits of its balanced, […]
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16 min read
Alliance Trust – Stability in troubled waters
Alliance Trust Investment companies | Update | 17 November 2022 Stability in troubled waters More than five years after it refocused its global equity portfolio, Alliance Trust (ATST) has proven the merits of blending different expertise across different investment styles. Its manager, Willis Towers Watson, has been able to demonstrate the benefits of its balanced, […]
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15 min read
Alliance Trust – Stability in troubled waters
Alliance Trust Investment companies | Update | 17 November 2022 Stability in troubled waters More than five years after it refocused its global equity portfolio, Alliance Trust (ATST) believes that it has proven the merits of blending different expertise across different investment styles. Its manager, Willis Towers Watson, feels that it has been able to […]
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13 Oct 2022 14 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2022
Third quarter of 2022 Kindly sponsored by Baillie Gifford and Aberdeen Standard Investments Piling on the misery In the face of rising inflation, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, central bankers have condemned for their relative inaction. However, in the third quarter of 2022, they stepped up a gear. Last month’s economic and political roundup […]
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16 Sep 2022 1 min read
Interview with Stuart Gray from Alliance Trust
In this week’s show, James Carthew talked to Stuart Gray from Alliance Trust. If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news, click here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email us. Additionally, if you would prefer to watch and […]
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10 Sep 2021 1 min read
Interview with Craig Baker of Alliance Trust
In this week’s show, James Carthew talked to Craig Baker of Alliance Trust If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news, this is now in the news section – here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email […]
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04 Aug 2021 14 min read
Alliance Trust – The fruits of diversification
The fruits of diversification More than four years after it refocused its global equity portfolio, Alliance Trust (ATST) has proven the merits of blending different expertise across different investment styles. Since the overhaul in April 2017, it has matched its peers and beaten its benchmark. In particular, over the past 14 months, which have been […]
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14 min read
Alliance Trust – The fruits of diversification
The fruits of diversification More than four years after it refocused its global equity portfolio, Alliance Trust (ATST) has proven the merits of blending different expertise across different investment styles. Since the overhaul in April 2017, it has matched its peers and beaten its benchmark. In particular, over the past 14 months, which have been […]
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14 min read
Alliance Trust – The fruits of diversification
The fruits of diversification More than four years after it refocused its global equity portfolio, Alliance Trust (ATST) appears to have demonstrated the merits of blending different expertise across different investment styles. Since the overhaul in April 2017, it has matched its peers and beaten its benchmark. In particular, over the past 14 months, which […]
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08 Dec 2020 2 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 17 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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16 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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17 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 4 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 1 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 9 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 5 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 3 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 4 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 1 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 1 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 1 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 1 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 1 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 1 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 1 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 2 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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1 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 1 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
News
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21 Mar 2025 1 min read
Alliance Witan 2024 Annual Results
Dean Buckley, Chair and Craig Baker, Chair of the Investment Committee Alliance Witan are pleased to share their annual results for the year ending 31 December 2024. This has been a landmark year for the Company, marked by their promotion to the FTSE 100 following the successful combination with Witan.
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07 Mar 2025 11 min read
Alliance Witan publishes first set of results since merger
Alliance Witan (ALW) has published its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2024, which it describes as a landmark year – 2024 saw the trust promoted to the FTSE 100 merger following the merger with Witan. ALW’s share price was £12.44 as of 31 December 2024, representing a share price total return of […]
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14 Feb 2025 3 min read
Are we still in love with the Magnificent Seven?
Investors’ most enduring love affair over the past decade has been with mega-cap technology stocks. They have swooned as the sector has gone from strength to strength, pushing more and more capital in its direction. However, there is a growing question as to whether this romantic entanglement is nearing its natural end. Until recently, the […]
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03 Jan 2025 8 min read
QuotedData’s analysts’ picks for 2025
As we begin another year, here at QuotedData, we thought we’d have some fun and challenge our analysts, once again, to come up with some ideas for investment companies that they like and think could do well over the course of the coming year but first, we’re also going to take a look back and […]
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27 Dec 2024 5 min read
QuotedData’s review of the year 2024
This is the last of our weekly emails for 2024. We hope that you have been finding them useful. 2024 has been a year of setbacks and shrinkage for the UK investment companies industry, topped by the cynical and self-serving attack on seven trusts by US corporate raider Saba Capital (there will be much more […]
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22 Nov 2024 3 min read
MAGA or TINA, the only way is up?
The problem with Trump’s use of the phrase “MAGA” – Make America Great Again – is that it implies America wasn’t already great. With its booming equity markets, robust economic growth, and strong fundamentals – such as energy independence, deep pools of domestic capital, and the inherent advantages of the US dollar’s reserve currency status […]
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25 Oct 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 25 October 2024 – ALW, JFJ, ATS, ARR, UKW
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 25 October 2024: As previously indicated, Alliance Witan (ALW) has increased its dividend following the combination of Alliance Trust and Witan Investment Trust to form Alliance Witan. ALW has declared a third interim dividend of 6.73p per share. The total of the first three interim dividends declared for 2024 is 19.97p […]
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24 Oct 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 October 2024 – ALW, ALF, AEWU, AGR, AERI
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 October 2024: Alliance Witan’s investment manager, Willis Towers Watson has completed the transition of assets from Witan Investment Trust to Alliance Witan (ALW). Blackrock Inc. helped to manage the transition and keep the costs to a minimum. While Blackrock was completing the transition of assets, WTW took the opportunity to […]
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11 Oct 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 11 October 2024 – UIL, JFJ, JSGI, ALW
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 11 October 2024: Following its announcement on 9 October that it is considering going private (click here to read), and the subsequent announcement that it is acquiring the remainder of Zeta it does not own (click here to read) UTL directors David Shillson, Alison Hill, Peter Durhager and Stuart Bridges have […]
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10 Oct 2024 1 min read
Newly merged Alliance Witan appoints new stockpicker
With the deal approved by both sets of shareholders, Witan’s investors got 0.224615 of a new Alliance Witan share for every Witan share that they held (based on formula asset values of 1274.592460 pence for Alliance Trust and 286.293752 pence for Witan). Willis Towers Watson has appointed Jennison Associates as an additional stock picker for […]
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20 Sep 2024 3 min read
Ahead of the Vanguard (LifeStrategy)
The board of Alliance Trust (ATST) announced on 12 September that the forthcoming vote on its merger with Witan will be held on 1 October. This will undoubtedly be a pivotal event, as their combination could be the catalyst for ATST’s entry into the FTSE 100. We believe investors should vote in favour of the […]
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13 Sep 2024 3 min read
Alliance Trust and Witan publish circulars for their merger
Alliance Trust (ATST) and WTAN have published circulars in relation to their proposed merger, which, if it proceeds, will see a voluntary winding-up of Witan with its assets rolled into ATST, with the combined entity to be renamed Alliance Witan Plc (you can see our coverage of the original announcement here). The details announced with […]
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28 Jun 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 28th June 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today on our YouTube channel. In this week’s show, Matthew Read covered the week’s top stories: Alliance Trust/Witan (0:00) Bankers (9:08) JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets (11:10) Home REIT (13:09) This week’s interview was with Nick Train from Finsbury Growth & Income Trust– watch it again here.
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26 Jun 2024 3 min read
Alliance and Witan to combine
Alliance Trust (ATST) and Witan Investment Trust (WTAN) have announced that the two companies will combine to form Alliance Witan. Under the new deal, Witan’s assets will be rolled into Alliance Trust in exchange for the issue of new ordinary shares in the newly-named Alliance Witan. Specifics of the deal include: Alliance Trust’s investment strategy, […]
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19 Apr 2024 1 min read
The Big Question – Is the global economy heading for a hard, soft or no landing?
Interview with Lyrical Asset Management’s Andrew Wellington and GQG Partners’ Brian Kersmanc. Andrew and Brian discuss the impact and influence of macro on portfolio positioning and take a look at current stocks of interest?
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18 Apr 2024 2 min read
Alliance Trust picks ARGA to replace Ben Whitmore
Alliance Trust says that Willis Tower Watson has appointed a new stock picker for its multi-manager global equity portfolio. ARGA Investment Management replaces Jupiter Asset Management, following Ben Whitmore’s decision to leave Jupiter later this year and set up his own business. Craig Baker, WTW’s chief investment officer and chair of the investment committee, said: […]
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08 Mar 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 8th March 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Hipgnosis Songs Fund (0:26) • Alliance Trust versus F&C (5:46) • Triple Point Energy Transition (9:59) This week’s interview was with Richard Aston from CC Japan […]
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1 min read
Stock spotlight: Dexcom
Sands Capital’s Sunil Thakor looks at medical device company Dexcom – leader in the field of continuous glucose monitoring – and examines what makes it a high-quality growth business. Filmed in December 2023.
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3 min read
QD view – Clash of the titans
Alliance Trust and F&C Investment Trust are two of the largest investment trusts offering investors access to a global portfolio of shares. Both are well over 100 years old, with a good track record of adapting to changing circumstances. There has always been something of a rivalry between them, but it feels to me as […]
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07 Mar 2024 3 min read
Alliance Trust celebrates decent outperformance in 2023
Alliance Trust had a good year in 2023, returning 21.6% in NAV terms and 20.2% in share price terms, 6.3 and 4.9 percentage points ahead of the return on the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI), respectively. A 5% increase in the annual dividend to 25.2p per share makes this the 57th year of […]
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23 Feb 2024 1 min read
Stock spotlight: Airbus
In Alliance Trust’s new series of stock spotlight videos, Veritas’ Andy Headly focuses on Airbus and talks about the qualities that make it so attractive compared to its closest competitor. Filmed in December 2023.
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16 Feb 2024 1 min read
Stock spotlight: Ashtead
Jonathan Mills from Metropolis Capital talks about his conviction in the equipment rental firm, Ashtead, which supplies a wide range of plant and commercial equipment to companies in the UK, US and Canada. Filmed in December 2023.
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12 Jan 2024 5 min read
QD view – Should I stay or should I go?
Tuesday this week (9 January), saw the announcement that Ben Whitmore, a star investment manager at Jupiter focused on value equities, would be leaving to set up his own investment management firm. This is no small development for Jupiter as Ben is a popular manager responsible for a significant portion of the firm’s AUM (he […]
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10 Jan 2024 1 min read
Alliance Trust monitoring the situation at Jupiter
Jupiter Asset Management has announced that Ben Whitmore, the current manager of the Jupiter UK Special Situations Fund (assets under management – AUM – of £2.1bn), Jupiter Income Trust (AUM £1.6bn), Jupiter Global Value Unit Trust (AUM £1.0bn) and Jupiter Global Value SICAV (AUM £0.5bn), and segregated mandates with a further £4.8bn of AUM – […]
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20 Dec 2023 1 min read
The Big Question – Will higher-for-longer rates change stock picking?
Interview with Sunil Thakor of Sands Capital, Andy Headley of Veritas and Metropolis Capital’s Jonathan Mills. Alliance Trust stock pickers – Sunil Thakor of Sands, Andy Headley of Veritas and Metropolis’s Jonathan Mills – discuss how a prolonged period of high interest rates will impact businesses and whether this will change their stock picking approach.
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24 Oct 2023 1 min read
The Big Question: Is generative AI game changing?
Alliance Trust Stock Pickers Kishore Rao, from Sustainable Growth Advisers, and Heather Peirce, from Black Creek Investment Management, give their perspectives on the AI debate. Filmed: August 2023 previous story | next story
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01 Sep 2023 3 min read
QD View – Mind the gap
I was asked recently about the Murray International trust (MYI) and whether investors should stick with the fund as its long-term manager, Bruce Stout retires in 2024. While I actually quite like the current structure of the portfolio, its performance highlights the risks associated with relatively extreme positioning. The company’s annualised share price total return […]
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28 Jul 2023 1 min read
Another period of solid returns for Alliance Trust
Alliance Trust (ATST) has announced its interm results for the the six months ended 30 June 2023. The company’s NAV total return was 11.1%, significantly outperforming its benchmark index, the MSCI All Country World Index which returned 7.8%. Total shareholder return was 7.6%, due to a widening of the discount, although at -7.2% this was […]
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24 Jul 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 July 2023
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 July 2023: Alliance Trust (ATST) has added a new stock picker to its roster, bringing the total to 10. ATST’s investment manager Willis Towers Watson has appointed Dalton Investments, a value-focused Japanese specialist, which will receive 4% of ATST’s capital. Craig Baker, chairman of WTW’s investment committee, said: “Following extensive […]
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22 Jun 2023 1 min read
The big question with Vulcan’s C.T. Fitzpatrick and Jupiter’s Ben Whitmore
As fears that high interest rates may persist, we examine how a potential recession could affect equities with Alliance Trust Stock Pickers Ben Whitmore and C.T. Fitzpatrick in the latest of our ‘The big question’ interviews. previous story | next story
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22 May 2023 1 min read
The Big Question – Does macro matter? with Andrew Wellington and Brian Kersmanc
In Alliance Trust’s latest manager interview, Brian Kersmanc and Andrew Wellington share their views on the most important drivers of stock returns and to what extent the macro influences their investment decisions. Filmed: April 2023
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10 Mar 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 10th March 2023
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: • Oakley Capital Investments (0:32) • Alliance Trust versus F&C (8:58) • Henderson Opportunities (13:04) This week’s interview was with Anthony Catachanas from VH Global […]
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09 Mar 2023 2 min read
Alliance Trust beats benchmark over volatile 2022
While returns were negative in 2022, Alliance Trust did beat its benchmark (MSCI All Countries World Index) over the course of the year, returning -7.1% in NAV terms as compared to -8.1% for the index. Shareholders did even better as the discount narrowed, the return to shareholders was -5.8%. The trust also points out that […]
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28 Jul 2022 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 July 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 July 2022: Ecofin US Renewables (RNEW) says that its end June NAV was 97.32 cents, down slightly from the figure of 97.64 cents at end March. The main infuences on the NAV over the quarter were an inflation/interest related increase in discount rates used to value the portfolio (-$3.5m) offset […]
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08 Jul 2022 6 min read
QD view – Multi-manager trusts – a safe haven in current choppy markets?
What a week it has been in UK politics and markets. As I write, the political manoeuvring in Westminster continues to dominate the headlines and, from what I can see, this tale clearly has some way to go and so it will be grabbing more than its fair share of airtime for a while yet, […]
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08 Mar 2022 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 March 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 March 2022: JPMorgan Global Emerging Markets Income (JEMI) says its exposure to Russian securities amounts to three stocks, which are now valued at 0.25% of NAV (down from 3.6% at the end of January). Crystal Amber’s (CRS) shareholder meeting to approve its new investment strategy and management agreement saw significant […]
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25 Feb 2022 2 min read
Alliance Trust confident of extending its 55-year track record of increasing dividends
Alliance Trust (ATST) has announced its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2021. During the period, ATST provided an NAV total return of 18.6% and a share price total return of 16.5%. In comparison, its benchmark returned 19.6%. ATST says that its performance in the year was significantly ahead of its benchmark until […]
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18 Feb 2022 2 min read
QD view – The real dividend heroes
This week, Brunner Investment Trust (BUT) reached a landmark 50 years of consecutive dividend increases after it announced a proposed final dividend of 6.05p in its annual results, taking the total for the year to 20.15p, up from 20.06p for the year before. It joins only six other trusts that have achieved this success, including […]
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01 Nov 2021 1 min read
Alliance Trust resets its dividend after review
Alliance Trust resets its dividend after review – Alliance Trust (ATST) has concluded its review of the level and funding of its dividend, as announced in its last interim report. As a result, the board believes that an increased, but still sustainable, level of dividend will benefit existing shareholders and enhance the attractiveness of ATST’s […]
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29 Oct 2021 3 min read
QD view – wake up and smell the COP26
The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (or COP26) officially kicks off this weekend in Glasgow and will last for two weeks. As the name suggests, these conferences have been going on for decades yet this year the build-up seems to be bigger, brighter and better than ever. Maybe this means people are finally waking […]
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30 Jun 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 30 June 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 30 June 2021: International Public Partnerships is looking to raise money by issuing shares at 165p, a 15% premium to the end December 2020 NAV (adjusted for the 3.68p dividend declared since). The company has £56m of drawings on its debt facility and upcoming investments worth about £100m, including its investment in […]
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21 May 2021 2 min read
QD view – warm fuzzy feelings?
QD view – warm fuzzy feelings? Alphabet soup time ESG (environmental, social and governance) comes up a lot in the investment world currently. There are good reasons for that. The UK government said last year that it wants to make climate-related disclosures mandatory, in line with recommendations of the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). […]
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07 May 2021 3 min read
QD view – how the top 10 trusts have changed
I was playing with the QuotedData data pages this week – looking at factors such as widest discounts and highest yields – then I alighted on the 10-largest funds by market cap and I have to admit that some names on that list were a surprise to me. Fortunately, I had some old data from […]
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16 Apr 2021 2 min read
Alliance Trust announces stock picker changes
Alliance Trust (ATST) has announced that its investment manager, Willis Towers Watson (WTW), has appointed Metropolis Capital Limited (Metropolis) and Sands Capital Management, LLC (Sands) as two new Stock Pickers for its multi-manager global equity portfolio. Who are Sands Capital Management? With more than $68bn in client assets, Sands is an independent, employee-owned firm based […]
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04 Mar 2021 5 min read
Alliance Trust celebrates 54 years of rising dividends
Alliance Trust celebrates 54 years of rising dividends – Alliance Trust has published results for the year ended 31 December 2020. Over the year, the share price increased to a near record high and the return to shareholders was 9.4%. In an volatile year, the net asset value total return of 8.5% lagged the 12.7% return on the […]
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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 2 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 1 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 2 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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1 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 1 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 2 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 1 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 4 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 3 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 2 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 3 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 7 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 7 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 4 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 1 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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27 Jan 2025 1 min read
How have dividend heroes fared against inflation?
by Faith Glasgow from interactive investor, 27th January 2025: When it was introduced back in 2009, the Association of Investment Companies’ (AIC) Dividend Heroes concept was a stroke of marketing genius. It highlighted the 19 investment trusts that had maintained or increased payouts to shareholders for more than 20 consecutive years, regardless of the ups […]
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09 Dec 2024 1 min read
How you can cash in on DEAL MANIA now
By ANNE ASHWORTH, Daily Mail, 7 December 2024: An astonishing £52billion worth of UK-listed businesses have succumbed to bids or mergers in 2024, in a feeding frenzy of deals that provokes concern – but also indicates an opportunity. The shrinking of our stock market is bad news for the economy – the pace of departures […]
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2 min read
Trust puts ‘multi-manager’ strategy to the test
Faith Glasgow, Financial Times, December 7 2024: Making professional investment decisions on the basis of calls on markets, sectors or investment styles is a mug’s game. That is the suggestion of Craig Baker, global chief investment officer at insurer and institutional investor Willis Towers Watson (WTW), which oversees the recently merged £5bn investment trust Alliance […]
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29 Nov 2024 1 min read
Boards’ focus on discounts improves corporate governance
James Carthew for Citywire Investment Trust Insider, 29 November 2024: This has been a year of radical change in investment companies. However, unlike previous periods of heightened corporate activity among listed closed-end funds, boards have mostly initiated corporate action themselves rather than having it forced upon them. Share price ratings in the sector weakened for […]
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30 Oct 2024 2 min read
‘Set and forget’ funds that require minimal tinkering
by Cherry Reynard from interactive investor, 29th October 2024: Every investor understands the basic premise of investing: to sell something for more than they bought it for. However, while objectively straightforward, it is fiendishly difficult to do in practice. Time, markets, and emotions can all get in the way. This is the appeal of the […]
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02 Sep 2024 1 min read
AJ Bell Money & Markets: Investment trust show #7
Investment trust show #7:The big charges debate, F&C on the summer market slump, and why investors are paying a premium for 3i Group Laith Khalaf talks to James Carthew about the big merger between Alliance Trust and Witan which is expected to complete in the next few months. https://www.ajbell.co.uk/podcasts/episode/money-markets/2024-09-02
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29 Jul 2024 1 min read
Can we expect broader consolidation among investment trusts?
Cherry Reynard, Portfolio Adviser, 23 JULY 2024: It has been the busiest year on record for investment trust corporate activity, culminating in the creation of the giant Alliance-Witan at the end of June. Much of the merger activity has been concentrated in ‘distressed’ sectors, such as property and China, but the merger of these two […]
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15 Jul 2024 1 min read
Merger mania
Faith Glasgow, AIC Compass, 12 July 2024: It seems that the investment trust arena is gripped by merger mania, with a record six mergers completed in the first half of 2024 alone and more completing or in the pipeline. By far the largest and most high-profile of these deals – indeed, the largest merger ever […]
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11 Jul 2024 1 min read
What does the merger of Alliance Trust and Witan mean for advisers?
By David Thorpe, FT Adviser, 11 July 2024: When Andrew Bell announced in March that he intended to retire as fund manager and chief executive of Witan Investment Trust, it sparked a race across the City to win the fund management contract, which, at around £1.5bn, was among the biggest mandates to come on to […]
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26 Jun 2024 1 min read
‘The most logical move’: Alliance Witan shareholders poised to benefit from better liquidity and lower costs
Valeria Martinez, Investment Week, 26 June 2024: The merger of the Alliance Trust with Witan has been widely regarded as a logical outcome given their shared multi-manager approach, but analysts have warned shareholders of the combined entity may have to stomach higher levels of volatility. Both trusts joined this year’s investment trust M&A drive today […]
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1 min read
Witan and Alliance Trust to merge, but is it a good deal for shareholders?
By Jonathan Jones, Editor, Trustnet, 26 June 2024: Alliance Trust and Witan are to join together in the biggest investment trust merger in history and create the industry’s sixth-largest investment company with around £5bn in assets under management. The announcement, made this morning, comes after Witan had previously announced a strategic review of the £1.6bn […]
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1 min read
Alliance Trust and Witan create £5bn super fund
by Dave Baxter, Investors Chronicle, June 26, 2024: Two popular global stocks investment trusts are to create a £5bn behemoth after Alliance Trust (ATST) announced it would take over its weaker-performing rival, Witan (WTAN). Both trusts invest with a global mandate and use a multi-manager approach, employing other fund houses and investment firms to pick […]
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1 min read
Witan Alliance merger ‘best-fit outcome’, but questions raised over WTAN’s trust holdings
Lauren Hardy, Portfolio Adviser, 26 JUNE 2024: The proposed merger between Witan investment trust (WTAN) and Alliance Trust ATST) is “not unexpected” and “makes sense” amid myriad headwinds for the investment company sector, according to analysts. But while benefits including lower costs, greater liquidity and “increased efficiencies” are welcome, question marks remain as to the […]
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10 May 2024 1 min read
Number of investment trust share buybacks hits record high but effectiveness called into question
Cristian Angeloni, Investment Week, 09 May 2024: Share buybacks carried out by investment trusts reached a record high in 2023.. The rationale behind share buybacks stems from investment trust boards’ urge to proactively attempt to narrow discounts. At the end of October 2023, the average investment trust discount hit 16.9%, the widest month-end disparity since […]
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18 Apr 2024 1 min read
F&C vs Alliance Trust: which core global equity trust should you pick?
By Jean-Baptiste Andrieux, Reporter, Trustnet, 18 April 2024: F&C Investment Trust and Alliance Trust are among the largest investment trusts in the IT Global sector and have a long history dating back to the 19th century, making them popular choices as one-stop-shops for core exposure to global equities. Investors might have a hard time choosing […]
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05 Apr 2024 1 min read
Buyback bonanza
Cherry Reynard, for AIC Compass, 5 April 2024: In March, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust announced a £1 billion share buyback programme, designed to narrow its persistent discount to net asset value. At a time when investment trust discounts are wide relative to history and arbitrageurs are hovering over the sector, it is one of a […]
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14 Mar 2024 1 min read
Is Alliance Trust too reliant on the Magnificent Seven?
by Val Cipriani, Investors Chronicle, March 14, 2024: Global investment trust giant Alliance Trust (ATST) could face headwinds if the market’s enthusiasm for the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks were to cool down, analysts have warned. But the trust’s recent outperformance was also propelled by strong stockpicking in other areas of the market. Alliance’s shares returned […]
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11 Mar 2024 1 min read
Money Makers podcast: 11 March 2024
In this week’s edition of the Weekly Investment Trust Podcast, Jonathan Davis, editor of the Investment Trusts Handbook, talks to James Carthew, director of QuotedData. You can listen to this week’s two podcasts in full here. Alternatively, you can subscribe and download it on most podcast channels including Soundcloud, Apple, Spotify, Stitcher and others.
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06 Feb 2024 1 min read
The funds to pair with, or replace, Scottish Mortgage in your portfolio
By Jean-Baptiste Andrieux, Reporter, Trustnet, 06 February 2024: Scottish Mortgage seems to be back on investors’ radars, as they project central banks to start cutting rates at some point this year – boosting the growth-heavy portfolio… The Baillie Gifford’s flagship investment trust has struggled since central banks started their hiking cycle, but falling interest rates […]
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22 Jan 2024 1 min read
Investment trust insider on global trusts
Investment trust insider on global trusts – James Carthew: Global funds can learn from Alliance Trust’s success Our columnist says he is increasingly convinced Alliance Trust makes a ‘core’ holding for investors after its prgamatic multi-manager revamp seven years ago. Last week I discussed how 2023’s markets were dominated by a ‘magnificent seven’ of mega-cap […]
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10 Nov 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s Matthew Read: Time to talk about discounts
Matthew Read, Investment Week, 09 November 2023: Investment trust ratings, like equity markets in general, have for the past 18 months been impacted by the higher rates of inflation and the interest rate rises that have accompanied these. Longer duration assets – such as growth stocks that tend to have a higher proportion of their […]
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02 Nov 2023 1 min read
The funds pros have personally invested in for Junior ISAs
by Jennifer Hill from interactive investor, 30th October 2023: Investing for children and grandchildren is a great way to build a nest egg, and with a long time frame there’s plenty of time to ride out the inevitable ebbs and flows of investment markets… The general rule of thumb is that the younger you are, […]
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23 Oct 2023 1 min read
The perfect global and US fund combinations that avoid overlap
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, 23 October 2023: Investors often buy global funds for exposure to a wide net of the world’s biggest companies, but some would argue that they are essentially getting US funds. In an article about the assets that investors should avoid holding together, Bestinvest director Jason Hollands highlighted that US and global […]
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21 Aug 2023 1 min read
Trusts no pension is complete without
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, Trustnet, 21 August 2023: What investors choose to put in their pension is an important decision as it can have a significant influence on their overall quality of life when they enter retirement. It is very important to start early so that a large pot can be accrued, but as we […]
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03 Jul 2023 1 min read
Four trusts to hold for a lifetime
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, Trustnet, 03 July 2023: These four trusts could be held as a core holding by any investor, regardless of risk appetite or time horizon, according to fund pickers. Many funds cater to investors with specific goals, but some strategies appeal to those of all time horizons. For example, low-risk trusts typically […]
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27 Jun 2023 1 min read
Are ‘dividend hero’ investment trusts keeping up with inflation?
by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor, 27 June 2023: Research for interactive investor examined whether 19 investment trusts have beaten inflation over the past five years in terms of dividend growth, share price and net asset value (NAV) returns. The minimum aim of every investor should be to ensure that over the long term the […]
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08 Jun 2023 1 min read
The Dividend Heroes that grew their pay-outs the most
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, Trustnet, 8 June 2023: Dividend growth is an appealing attribute that those investing in trusts for income often look out for, but Trustnet found that seeking dividend growth alone can be littered with irregularities. However, the AIC’s 19 Dividend Heroes have increased their pay-outs for a minimum of 20 years, providing […]
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10 May 2023 1 min read
The eight income investment trust heavyweights: how sustainable are the dividends?
by Jennifer Hill from interactive investor, 10 May 2023: Eight investment trusts have half a century or more of increasing payouts to investors but deeper analysis is required to ascertain their true income prowess, reports Jennifer Hill… But dividend growth alone does not make a trust the best home for income seekers’ capital. A deeper […]
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28 Mar 2023 1 min read
Investment trust share buybacks: do they benefit private investors?
by Faith Glasgow from interactive investor, 28th March 2023: Share buybacks are used by investment trust boards to reduce the number of shares in circulation, as a mechanism for controlling the trust’s share price discount to net asset value (NAV)… But how far does that work in practice?.. A recent report by broker Numis notes […]
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27 Mar 2023 1 min read
Is it time to sell Scottish Mortgage?
David Brenchley, The Sunday Times, Sunday March 26 2023: A boardroom bust-up and the resignation of its chairwoman has compounded issues at Scottish Mortgage, the UK’s second-largest investment trust whose shares have more than halved in 16 months… What happened? A row erupted on March 17 when in remarks made to the Financial Times, Amar […]
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02 Mar 2023 2 min read
The trusts to buy for rising dividends
By Dave Baxter, Investors’ Chronicle, February 28, 2023: High dividend yields can be hard to resist, and there are many currently on offer in the investment trust universe. But a high yield can reflect recent price volatility, as with embattled Home REIT (HOME), or be a result of an especially esoteric portfolio, an example being […]
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27 Jan 2023 1 min read
Public/private valuation disconnect looks overdone
James Carthew for Investment Week, 24 January 2023: Within the investment companies sector, it has to be admitted that 2022 was a pretty poor year for funds investing in global equities. Only one, Brunner, managed to beat the MSCI AC World index, in NAV terms, although Lindsell Train, Alliance Trust and F&C all came close. […]
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04 Nov 2022 1 min read
As investors turn away from chasing growth, these income trusts could profit
By ANGHARAD CARRICK FOR THIS IS MONEY, 3 November 2022: As some savings rates near 5 per cent more potential investors might be tempted to park their cash there instead of in the stock market. But with inflation continuing to run hot, there is good reason to consider adding dividend-paying investments in your portfolio, as […]
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14 Oct 2022 1 min read
Lindsell Train and Scottish Mortgage among the cheapest global trusts relative to their recent history
By Tom Aylott, Reporter, Trustnet, 13 October 2022: Global trusts were some of the biggest benefactors of the growth wave that dominated throughout the 2010s, loading up on US tech companies that soared. In the past five years alone, the IT Global Equity Income and IT Global sectors have delivered investors a total return of […]
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26 Sep 2022 2 min read
Generalist investment trusts: life in the old dog yet?
By Dave Baxter, Investors’ Chronicle, September 23 2022: It’s testament to the sheer uncertainty of recent times that not a single UK investment trust has launched in the first eight months of 2022. That compares with 16 over the course of 2021 and six in an unpredictable 2020. Some analysts reckon it might even mark […]
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28 Jun 2022 1 min read
Have growth and value fund pairs outperformed the market?
by Jennifer Hill from interactive investor, 23rd June 2022: Last year we asked experts to name value and growth fund pairs to navigate the market rotation. The tactic has not yet paid off, but should investors stick with them?.. The sharp reversal in fortunes highlights the folly of pinning your colours to a single mast. […]
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22 Jun 2022 1 min read
Battle of the big three multi-manager trusts: who comes out on top?
by Jennifer Hill from interactive investor, 22nd June 2022: Alliance Trust, F&C and Witan – three big investment trusts that give investors access to a range of managers in one fell swoop. But how do they differ, and which has given investors the most bang for their buck? Three global multi-manager investment trusts – Alliance […]
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28 Apr 2022 1 min read
The ‘one-stop-shops’ to help navigate any market environment
Eve Maddock-Jones, Senior reporter, Trustnet, 28 April 2022: In the midst of heightened market volatility Trustnet asks fund pickers which portfolios can provide attractive returns, diversification and defensiveness all in one offering. Personal Assets Trust and Alliance Trust are some of experts’ preferred ‘one-stop-shop’ options for investors seeking a core portfolio allocation. One-stop-shop portfolios are […]
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17 Feb 2022 1 min read
All change at the top
Does a change of manager help with investment trust performance? Kathleen Gallagher, Investment Week, 3 February 2022: Boards of investment trusts continue to utilise their powers to change investment manager, a benefit of the investment trust structure. However, have these changes borne fruit? Three years is, by most analyst and investor standards, the timeframe when […]
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07 Feb 2022 1 min read
How to buy shares in the foreign brands we love
ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY, 5 February 2022: What can investors do when so many of the brands we know and use daily, from Disney to Apple and Samsung, are listed on overseas stock markets? Pick of the household names from overseas The UK stock market is packed full of world-class energy companies and […]
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23 Dec 2021 1 min read
Bargain Hunter: three trusts shaking things up to tackle their big discounts
7th December 2021 by Kyle Caldwell from interactive investor There are various tools a board can use in an attempt to boost demand for shares. Here are some examples. When an investment trust is persistently out of favour, its board can spring into action in an attempt to tackle its discount… Change at the top In a […]
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22 Nov 2021 1 min read
Junior Isas are ten – have you got one for your child or grandchild?
If you had squirrelled away £100 a month, they could now have a pot worth £16,300 By ROSIE MURRAY-WEST, FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY 20 November 2021 The cost of bringing up children is considerable enough, without thinking about saving for their future as well. However, even small sums put aside early on in a child’s life […]
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10 Nov 2021 1 min read
Investors await details on why trust would benefit from rare structure
By Jessica Tasman-Jones, Portfolio Adviser, 3 Nov 21 EP Global Opportunities has left investors awaiting details about its rationale for adopting the increasingly rare self-managed investment trust structure as its board prepares to remove Franklin Templeton as its third-party manager… Alliance Trust and Personal Assets transition away from self-managed model There are currently just 13 investment […]
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01 Nov 2021 1 min read
Alliance Trust increases dividends over 30%
By Jessica Tasman-Jones, Portfolio Adviser, 1 Nov 21 Alliance Trust is increasing dividends by almost a third after seeking court approval to shuffle its merger reserves into distributable reserves. The board of the £3.2bn investment trust revealed in its half-year results in July that it would be reviewing dividend payments. Covid’s effects on the courts system […]
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15 Oct 2021 1 min read
What to hold alongside one of investors’ favourite funds
Trustnet asked fund pickers what to hold alongside one of the most popular sustainable funds, Royal London Sustainable World Trust. 13 October 2021 By Eve Maddock-Jones, Reporter, Trustnet Royal London Sustainable World Trust is one of the most popular options for sustainable investing, recent research by Trustnet found, but what should investors be holding alongside it? Last […]
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06 Sep 2021 1 min read
Why a stocks and shares Isa is the perfect gift for a baby
Violet is five months old — a good age to start investing in the market, says her devoted uncle David Brenchley David Brenchley, Friday September 03 2021, 5.00pm, The Times It’s always exciting when you can welcome a new baby to the family. This was certainly the case with the birth of my niece, Violet, […]
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16 Mar 2021 1 min read
Investment trust insider on dividend heroes
Investment trust insider on dividend heroes – James Carthew: ‘Dividend hero’ trusts do the right thing Some of the big beasts of the investment company sector have recently published results that cover the impact of Covid-19 on their finances. Among them are a number of ‘dividend hero’ investment trusts that have increased their dividend each […]
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16 Nov 2020 1 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 1 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 […]
