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 within the fund, but the manager, Willis Towers Watson, seeks to blend managers with different styles so that the trust is not beholden to any particular fashion in markets.

While the new approach has outperformed the trust’s benchmark (the MSCI All Countries World Index in sterling) since the strategy change, ATST has not matched its benchmark over 2020. We examine why on pages 15 and 16. The manager remains convinced that the approach will continue to deliver outperformance in the long run. In the meantime, the board is keen to maintain ATST’s 53-year track record of increasing dividends each year, and the trusts’ substantial revenue reserves can help support that ambition.

This article was originally published on martenandco.com