Alliance Trust to overhaul investment approach

15th Dec 2016 08:21

(ShareCast News) - Alliance Trust posted the outcome of its strategic review on Thursday, outlining a new investment approach involving a number of new managers.The FTSE 250 trust reiterated its main goal to remain a global equity investment trust offering real returns over the medium to long termIt said its target to outperform MSCI All Country World Index was to be doubled to 2% per annum from 1%, net of costs, over rolling three-year periods.The board said it was aiming to build on Alliance Trust's 49-year track record of year-on-year dividend growth.A new approach to investment management would now be adopted, it said, to increase the likelihood of delivering consistently the performance target, moving from a single manager to multiple equity managers, each rated best-in-class.Each equity manager would create a focused portfolio of their top investment selections, the board explained.An agreement was also reached to sell Alliance Trust Investments to Liontrust Asset Management for up to £30m, representing a premium of at least £5m to book value.Alliance Trust Savings was continuing to make good progress and would remain as part of the group, as the board said it was now profitable and well-placed to develop further.A proactive programme of share buy-backs would be introduced with the aim of achieving a significantly narrower discount, it added.Shareholders would now be provided with the opportunity to vote on the new approach to investment management."Since May, the board has evaluated carefully a broad range of options, with an open mind and a clear line of sight on how best we could improve the trust's performance," said chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin."We believe there is good appetite for a global equity investment trust and that will remain our overall positioning."However, Lord Smith said the board was proposing a new approach to the investment management of the equity portfolio."Our proposal is that we will move from a single manager to multiple equity managers."All managers will be rated best-in-class and each will create a focused portfolio of their best investment selections."He said the board was confident that the differentiated investment approach will help to improve Alliance Trust's performance on a consistent basis."Accordingly, we have doubled the level targeted for outperformance, reaffirmed our ambition to continue our track record of year-on-year dividend growth, yet at a competitive cost."We firmly believe that this will put Alliance Trust on a strong footing for many years to come."