Dundee’s Alliance Trust adds to its team of equity managers

INVESTMENT: New manager appointed to multi-billionpound portfolio

Dundee-headquartered investment firm Alliance Trust has revealed it has added a new equity manager to oversee its multi-billion-pound portfolio.

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) was appointed to oversee the investment portfolio two years ago and has overseen eight global equity managers who each have a portfolio of up to 20 stocks.

Alliance Trust announced yesterday that WTW had added a ninth manager, Vulcan Value Partners, to its team of stock pickers.

Vulcan is a boutique equity manager based in Birmingham, Alabama, with more than $12 billion of assets under management, supported by a 15-strong investment team.

It has been allocated an 8.5% stake of the firm’s portfolio, which has a total value of around £3.1bn.

Craig Baker, chairman of the Alliance Trust Investment Committee and global chief investment officer of Willis Towers Watson, said Vulcan takes a long-term approach to investments.

He said: “Vulcan’s appointment will provide the trust with access to another highly skilled active manager and will enhance further the portfolio’s diversity and risk control.

“What differentiates Vulcan from other value managers is the team’s focus on capital preservation and long-term compounding opportunities.

“The team focus on finding a small number of very high-quality businesses that have the ability to compound in value over the long term, that they would want to own if the share prices ever become discounted.

“They then take advantage of market volatility for buying opportunities, instead of being a victim of it.

“We believe that the best way to deliver long-term outperformance to investors is to combine the best ideas from the best stock pickers globally into one highly active but diversified portfolio and offer it at a competitive fee.”

Vulcan was established in 2007 by CT Fitzpatrick, who is the firm’s chief investment officer.

He will be the lead portfolio manager for the Alliance Trust account.

CT Fitzpatrick, founder of Vulcan Value Partners.