Legal & Regulatory Information
1. What is Alliance Witan?
Alliance Witan PLC ('Alliance Witan') is an investment company with investment trust status, listed on the London Stock Exchange. Alliance Witan is incorporated in Scotland (Company registration number: SC1731). The registered office of Alliance Witan is at River Court, 5 West Victoria Dock Road, Dundee DD1 3JT
'Alliance Witan' and 'alliancewitan' are brand names owned by Alliance Witan PLC. Alliance Trust Savings, which was owned by Alliance Trust PLC until 28 June 2019, may use the brand names Alliance Trust Savings, ATS and AT Savings and the Alliance Trust Savings logo by permission.
2. No advice or offer
Alliance Witan gives no financial, tax or investment advice. If you are considering buying Alliance Witan shares or any other investment, but are uncertain about how to do it or what it entails, you should consult a qualified adviser such as an independent financial adviser or stockbroker.
The information contained in this website is not an offer or invitation to deal in or acquire an investment, and should therefore not be relied upon by any person anywhere other than in the United Kingdom or by any person in any jurisdiction where such an offer or invitation would be unlawful.
3. Investment objective and policy
Details of Alliance Witan's investment objective and policy are set out in Alliance Witan's Annual Report, copies of which are available on request or may be viewed here.
Before considering an investment in Alliance Witan, please read the Investor Disclosure Document which you can find here.
4. Risk warnings
Shares in Alliance Witan are a form of equity investment.
Please remember that past performance of an investment is not a guide to or indicative of future performance. The value of an investment and the income from it can fall as well as rise as a result of market and currency fluctuations and you may not get back the amount originally invested.
Tax assumptions may change if the law changes, and the value of tax relief (if any) will depend upon your individual circumstances. Investors should consult their own tax advisers in order to understand any applicable tax consequences.
Investment trusts may borrow to finance further investment (gearing). The use of gearing is likely to lead to volatility in the Net Asset Value (NAV), meaning that a relatively small movement, down or up, in the value of a trust's assets will result in a magnified movement, in the same direction, of that NAV. This may mean that you could get back nothing at all.
Investment trusts can make use of derivatives; if used for speculative purposes there would be a high risk of loss, due to the highly volatile nature of such investments.
The price of shares in Alliance Witan will be affected by the supply and demand for them on the London Stock Exchange and may not represent the underlying value of the assets of Alliance Witan. For these reasons, investors may not get back the amount originally invested. The price generally stands below the net asset value of the Trust ('at a discount') but it may also stand above it ('at a premium'). The growth of your capital will depend upon the movement of the discount/premium over the period you own the shares, as well as the growth of the assets of Alliance Witan.
Investment trust expenses reduce Alliance Witan's income. The risk is that if the income generated by the portfolio is low, expenses may exceed the total income received, so Alliance Witan would not pay a dividend and the capital value would be reduced. When expenses are charged to capital as a matter of policy, this will reduce the capital value of Alliance Witan.
Interest rate changes will affect the capital value of the investment. There is likely to be a negative effect on capital in the event of rises in long-term interest rates.
5. Non-Mainstream Pooled Investment (NMPI) status
Alliance Witan currently conducts its affairs so that its shares can be recommended by independent financial advisers to ordinary retail investors in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) rules relating to non-mainstream pooled investment products, and intends to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Shares in Alliance Witan are excluded from the restrictions in the FCA rules which apply to non-mainstream pooled investment products, because they are shares in an investment trust.
The shares in Alliance Witan may also be suitable for institutional investors who seek a combination of capital and income return.
Private investors should consider consulting an independent financial adviser who specialises in advising on the acquisition of shares and other securities, before acquiring shares. Investors should be capable of evaluating the risks and merits of such an investment and should have sufficient resources to bear any loss that may result.
6. Investor disclosure document
The Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD) requires Towers Watson Investment Management Limited, as Alliance Witan's alternative investment fund manager (AIFM), to make certain information available to potential investors prior to any investment in Alliance Witan. You can find this information in the Alliance Witan Investor Disclosure Document which you can access here.
The AIFMD is intended to offer increased protection to investors in investment products that do not fall under the existing European Union regime for regulation of investment products known as 'UCITS'.
7. Conflicts of interest
Towers Watson Investment Management Limited has set a policy on the management of conflicts of interest, with the objective of ensuring that investors are not adversely affected by conflicts of interest. The conflicts of interest policy applies to all employees. Towers Watson Investment Management Limited has a Conflicts Inventory which notes the conflicts of interest that have been identified and the controls in place to manage those conflicts of interest. You can find a copy of the conflicts of interest policy here.