Gregor Stewart

The news comes as Alliance Trust posted its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2020.

In 2020, the company’s share price increased to a near-record high and Total Shareholder Return (TSR) amounted to 9.4% (2019: 24.3%).

Alliance Trust’s Net Asset Value (NAV) Total Return was 8.5%, compared to 23.1% in 2019, while the Company’s benchmark index, the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI), returned 12.7% (2019: 21.7%).

The firm said its portfolio remains structured for long-term growth and has delivered a resilient performance in a year of global turmoil in which the benchmark return was skewed by the performance of the very largest companies.

Gregor Stewart, chairman of Alliance Trust, commented: “Despite the unparalleled turbulence of 2020, the company ended the year with its share price at a near-record level and its run of increasing dividends extended to 54 consecutive years.

“It is disappointing that the company did not outperform its benchmark, but this is not surprising given that index returns were heavily skewed towards a handful of fashionable US large and mega-cap stocks.

“As the rollout of vaccines develops and the global economic recovery broadens out across industry sectors, your Board and our Investment Manager remain confident that the Company’s diversified but high conviction portfolio is well placed to deliver long-term outperformance.”