Alliance Trust plc is a publicly traded investment and financial services company, established in 1888 and headquartered in Dundee, Scotland. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...

and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It is one of the largest investment trusts in the UK.

History

The Alliance Trust plc was formed by the 1888 merger of three Dundee-based

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and land companies: the Dundee Investment Company, the Dundee Mortgage and Trust Investment Company and the Oregon and Washington Trust (which was set up to provide loans to immigrant farmers on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

). Many prominent figures in Dundee invested some of their money in the Alliance Trust and its predecessors, including merchants, ship owners, textile manufacturers and businessman such as Sir John Leng. The company subsequently expanded into other

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can ...

classes. In 1918 the firm agreed to share premises and other costs with the Western & Hawaiian Investment Company, a mortgage lender which initially focused its business on sugar planters in

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before expanding. Five years later it was renamed The Second Alliance Trust, although no formal merger between the two took place until 2006. The Trusts later moved into fixed income investing in the 1920s and 30s, before adding significant quantities of shares to their portfolios in the late 1950s. A savings division was established by Alliance Trust in 1986, offering pensions and other investment products. A formal merger with The Second Alliance Trust was finally conducted in 2006, as the investment strategies of the two companies had come to closely resemble each other. The company left its headquarters of over 90 years, Meadow House in Dundee's Reform Street on 1 June 2009 for a purpose-built facility on 8 West Marketgait in Dundee City Centre. 8 West Marketgait, Dundee

In 2011, it was reported that

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

Archive Services had become custodians of the Alliance Trust's extensive archives. Following criticism by

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, an activist shareholder, Katherine Garrett-Cox stood down as Chief Executive and left the company in March 2016.

Investment strategy

In December 2016, the board announced that the Trust would change its investment philosophy to a multi-manager model in a bid to improve performance. In March 2017, the Trust's shareholders approved the change in approach. The Trust then formally appointed Willis Towers Watson (WTW) as investment manager with effect from 1 April 2017.

Former operations

Until October 2018, Alliance Trust was the parent company of Alliance Trust Savings Limited, an execution-only

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. The business was sold to Interactive Investor for £40m; the sale included the office building at West Marketgait, Dundee.

References

{{Authority control Financial services companies established in 1888 Financial services companies of Scotland Investment management companies of the United Kingdom Scottish brands 1888 establishments in Scotland Companies based in Dundee British companies established in 1888 Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Publicly traded companies 1888 establishments in the United Kingdom Financial services companies of the United Kingdom