Alliance Trust PLC (LON:ATST), today announced results for six months ended 30 June 2018
H1 2018 performance highlights
· Total Shareholder Return (TSR) of 1.1%, Net Asset Value (NAV) Total Return of 2.9% and equity portfolio total return of 2.9%* compared with MSCI ACWI Total Return of 2.3%
· Since Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) appointment in April last year, the equity portfolio has delivered a total return of 12.9%* and the Trust a NAV total return of 12.3% compared to the MSCI ACWI’s 10.1% over the same period
· Equity portfolio on track to deliver target of 2% outperformance after costs over a rolling three year period vs benchmark
· Interim dividend of 3.389p, an increase of 3% year on year and over 50 years of successive dividend growth
· Discount to NAV averaged 5.8% over the period (H1 2017: 5.1%)
*gross of fees
Lord Smith of Kelvin, Chairman of Alliance Trust PLC, commented:
“I am pleased to report another period of steady performance against an increasingly volatile market backdrop, driven by returns from the global equity portfolio constructed by WTW, which now represents 95% of the Trust assets. We are on track to deliver the target we set when we started our new investment strategy on 1 April 2017, of out performance of 2% more than the benchmark after costs over a rolling three year period.
“I am also pleased that we have declared a 3% year-on-year increase in our interim dividend, as we celebrate over half a century of growing our dividend.
“Although the short-term market future looks set to remain uncertain, we remain focused on consistent outperformance over the long-term, at a competitive cost. We are encouraged by the steady progress made by WTW’s “all-weather” approach to active stock picking. Our diversified, high conviction portfolio is designed to deliver consistent outperformance, irrespective of the dominant drivers of returns in any given period, with low volatility. We believe that the Trust now has a highly differentiated offer for investors that will continue to deliver attractive and sustainable returns for shareholders.”
