Alliance Trust
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Alliance Trust plc | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (LSE: ATST) |
| Founded | 1888 |
| Headquarters | Dundee, U.K. |
| Key people | Alan Harden (CEO) Lesley Knox (Chairman) |
| Industry | Financial services |
| Products | Investment management, pensions |
| Operating income | ▲ £196.1 million (year to Jan 07)[1] |
| Total assets | £2.973 billion (at end 2007)[2] |
| Employees | 297 (yr to Jan 07)[1] |
| Website | www.alliancetrust.co.uk |
Alliance Trust plc (LSE: ATST) is a publicly-traded investment and financial services company, headquartered in Dundee, Scotland. Established in 1888, the firm operates the largest investment trust in the United Kingdom[3] and has been a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index since February 2008. Alliance Trust is the tenth-largest company based in Scotland.[4]
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[edit] History
The Alliance Trust was formed by the 1888 merger of three Dundee-based mortgage and land companies: the Dundee Investment Company, the Dundee Mortgage and Trust and the Oregon and Washington Trust (which was set up to provide loans to immigrant farmers on the West Coast of the United States).[5] The company subsequently expanded into other asset classes. In 1918 the firm agreed to share premises and other costs with the Western & Hawaiian Investment Company,[6] a mortgage lender which initially focused its business on sugar planters in Hawaii before expanding.[5] Five years later it was renamed The Second Alliance Trust, although no formal merger between the two took place.[6]
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.[7] A savings division was established by Alliance Trust in 1986, offering pensions and other investment products.[8] 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.[9] The merger greatly increased the market cap of the company, aiding it in gaining promotion to the FTSE 100 in February 2008.
The company will leave its headquarters of over 90 years, Meadow House, in late 2008 for a purpose-built facility on Marketgait in Dundee City Centre.[4] The company has facilities and offices around the city of Dundee, including the Dundee Technology Park, Edinburgh, London and Hong Kong.
[edit] Operations
The company has four main business segments: quoted equity, property, private equity and financial services, the latter of which comprises its asset management and savings units.[10] As of the end of 2007, the company managed approximately £2.97 billion worth of assets.[2] Approximately 49% of the trust's holdings are in UK institutions, with its five largest investments being in Royal Dutch Shell, the Alliance Trust Real Estate Partnership, BP, Vodafone and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.[2] Alliance Trust also continues to hold some oil and gas properties in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma which remain from the original U.S. mortgage business of its founding companies and continue to generate considerable income.[7]
Alliance Trust is led by CEO Alan Harden who took up the post in January 2004.[11] Harden replaced Gavin Suggett who retired after a 30-year career at the company.[12]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Annual Report 2006/07". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ a b c "Alliance Trust PLC Factsheet as at 31 December 2007". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-22.
- ^ Rutherford, Hamish (6 February 2008). "Alliance Trust comes out of turbulence on top to join FTSE 100", The Scotsman. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ a b Robbins, Bruce (9 January 2007). "Alliance Trust makes city hub of expansion", The Courier. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ a b "About us: History 1873-1888". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ a b "About us: History 1918-1966". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ a b Bolger, Andrew (6 February 2005). "On the way up in the oldest lift in the land", Financial Times. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ "About us: History 1969-1998". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ Farrow, Paul (29 March 2006). "Alliance puts its trust in £2.8 billion merger", The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ "About us: Group Structure". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ "Investor Centre: the Board". Alliance Trust. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
- ^ Darroch, Valerie (8 June 2003). "Organic pastures new as Alliance chief set to draw his own pension", Sunday Herald. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
