Alliance And Witan Join Forces To Form New £5bn Investment Trust Giant

Two of Britain’s oldest investment funds have revealed plans to merge in a deal that will create a £5bn fund giant.

The agreement brings together Alliance Trust, which dates back to 1888, and Witan, founded in 1909.

The companies said that after joining forces later this year, they will likely be eligible for admission to the FTSE 100 index of Britain’s largest listed companies.

Merger: Alliance Trust and Witan, which each date back more than a century, said they would likely be eligible for admission to the FTSE 100 after joining forces later this year.

The merger is just the latest round of consolidation in the fund management sector and came as the boss of rival asset manager Liontrust predicted more mergers were on the way.

Witan Chairman Andrew Ross said: ‘The companies share similar cultures. The deal will result in one of London’s leading investment companies and will serve our shareholders well for many years to come.’

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, said: “This is a successful merger of two of the biggest and oldest names in the world of investment trusts.

The deal will result in lower annual charges for investors, as well as preserving the long dividend history of both trusts.’

Other recent deals in the sector include an alliance between Fidelity and Chinese Abrdn trusts.

Liontrust chief executive John Ions said the industry was “overfunded”, with 550 in the global equity sector alone.

He added: ‘I would see further consolidation taking place. The union of these two large investment trusts will generate more economies of scale to reduce costs for the investor.”

Alliance Trust shares rose 0.5 per cent, or 6p, to 1,210p yesterday, while Witan rose 2.5 per cent, or 6.5p, to 267.5p.

Liontrust’s £6bn exit

Fund manager Liontrust has pinned its hopes on interest rate cuts and an end to political uncertainty as it looks to rebuild its fortunes after sliding into losses all year.

The group revealed it was £579,000 in the red for the year to the end of March, down from a profit of £49.3m a year earlier.

He blamed “negative investor sentiment” as clients withdrew £6.1bn from their funds over the year.

But chief executive John Ions said there were now “signs of a shift in investor sentiment”, adding: “This is likely to change significantly as central banks cut interest rates and there is greater policy certainty.” and tax in the United Kingdom”.

DIY INVESTMENT PLATFORMS

Easy investing and ready-to-use portfolios

AJ Bell

Easy investing and ready-to-use portfolios

Hargreaves Lansdown

Free Fund Trading and Investment Ideas

Fixed fee investing from £4.99 per month

interactive inverter

Fixed fee investing from £4.99 per month

Stock Investing: Community of Over 30 Million

eToro

Stock Investment: Community of over 30 million

Free stock trading with no commissions per account

Trade 212

Free stock trading and no account commission

Affiliate links: If you purchase a This is Money product you may earn a commission. These offers are chosen by our editorial team as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.

Compare the best investment account for you

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

Alliance and Witan join forces to form new £5bn investment trust giant

Liontrust’s £6bn exit