Interim Management Statement

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT For Quarter Ending 31st October 2010 * Global equities have made strong gains over Q3 2010, underpinned by corporate earnings in Emerging Markets, Europe and UK. NAV Total Return was up 3.9%, compared to the FTSE All-World Index up 2.1% and the FTSE All-Share Index up 2.5%. Government bond yields remained steady, but those of corporate bonds experienced tightening against the positive backdrop from equities. Sterling has been strong against a weaker US Dollar and commodities have rallied strongly. The economic backdrop remains weak but global economic recession risk is low. The full impact of the cuts announced in the UK's Autumn spending review is still uncertain; despite this equity markets continued to perform well. * Global equity exposure for the Trust now stands at 97% of net assets with gross assets at 112% - a slight increase, as we have committed further cash into both European equities and Fixed Income, which now represents 6% of assets, while maintaining our exposure to Emerging Markets and Asia. Regionally, the UK still represents the largest part of the equity portfolio at 33%, but Asia and Emerging Markets now make up 28%. Sector exposures remain relatively unchanged with our largest positions in Financials, Industrials, Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas; areas we feel will benefit most from the gradual pick-up in global economic activity. We continue to invest in companies with exposure to Asian growth opportunities. * Global imbalances still exist and sovereign debt problems continue in Europe. International tensions remain with the possibility of currency and tariff wars. US QE II was well flagged, with little initial effect on markets, though its timing ahead of G20 talks on currency manipulation did little to enhance US credibility, but gave some assurance to investors that participants can work together to resolve some of their key issues. Our own economic analysis continues to forecast a period of modest sub-trend growth in Western economies and continuing expansion in Asian and many emerging economies. Interest rates will remain low and we believe that the stimulus to private sector demand from monetary policy will offset the impact of the fiscal consolidation being implemented in many countries. * Recent Q3 corporate earnings have been encouraging. In terms of valuations, many stocks and markets represent good value, despite recent gains and equities still look cheap relative to bonds in an historical context. Although 2011 will be another challenging year, we remain optimistic for returns KEY FACTS Total Net Assets: £2,800.1m ---------------------------------------------------------------- NAV Total Return from 31/07/10 to 31/10/10: 9.3%* ---------------------------------------------------------------- Total Expense Ratio (year to 31/01/10): 0.69% ---------------------------------------------------------------- Year End: 31 January 2011 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Incorporation: 21 April 1888 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dividend: Dividends of 2.0625p were paid on or around 2 August and 1 November and will be paid on or around 31 January 2011 and 31 May 2011 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Capital: 667,059,760 shares of 2.5p ---------------------------------------------------------------- ISIN: GB00B11V7W98 ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Source: Fundamental Data The NAV is published daily on our website www.alliancetrust.co.uk ASSET ALLOCATION % Equities 97.0 Private Equity 3.9 Fixed Income 5.8 Operating Subsidiaries 0.6 Property 1.6 Other investments 1.7 Cash 0.8 Other Net Assets 0.2 Gross Assets 111.6 Gearing (11.6) Net Assets 100.0 EQUITY PORTFOLIO DISTRIBUTION GEOGRAPHIC (EQUITY ONLY)   INDUSTRY (EQUITY ONLY)   Closing Weights %     Closing Weights % Emerging Markets 3.0   Utilities 0.9 Europe 14.5   Telecommunications 2.1 North America 24.4   Consumer Services 6.4 Pan Asia 25.2   Health Care 8.7 United Kingdom 32.9   Basic Materials 9.8       Technology 9.8       Oil and Gas 12.2       Consumer Goods 13.4       Industrials 17.0       Financials 19.7 Trust Performance   1 Year 2 Years 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years Price 15.3% 42.2% -6.2% 15.7% 5.5% Total Return 18.3% 50.3% 1.7% 30.9% 36.2% NAV Total Return 18.9% 38.6% -0.5% 31.2% 31.0% AIC Global Growth Sector - Total Return 21.3% 47.8% 0.8% 42.6% 56.1% AIC Global Growth Sector - NAV Total 20.1% 48.2% 0.7% 42.8% 47.6% Return FTSE All-World Index (£) - Price 15.3% 36.4% -3.0% 22.1% -3.0% FTSE All-World Index (£) - Total Return 18.2% 44.2% 5.3% 38.6% 21.7% FTSE All-Share - Price 13.6% 34.5% -15.0% 10.2% -4.6% FTSE All-Share -Total Return 17.5% 45.0% -4.8% 31.6% 33.0% Alliance Trust does not have a fixed benchmark Source: FactSet/Fundamental data Top 20 investments Rank Movement Rank last qtr Name Value £m 1 ▲ (2) BHP Billiton * 72.4 2 ▼ (1) HSBC 63.3 3 ▲ (5) Rio Tinto 61.1 4 ▼ (3) BP 58.2 5 ▼ (4) GlaxoSmithKline 57.0 6 - (6) Royal Dutch Shell 56.1 7 ▲ (9) InterOil 41.3 8 ▼ (7) British American Tobacco 40.9 9 ▲ (10) Philip Morris 37.9 10 ▲ (11) Prudential 37.7 11 ▲ (13) CNOOC 37.1 12 ▼ (8) New York Community Bancorp 35.6 13 ▲ (15) Canadian Pacific Railway 30.4 14 ▲ (18) Bank Rakyat Indonesia 29.2 15 new   Vodafone 26.9 16 ▲ (17) Standard Chartered 26.5 17 ▼ (12) Diageo 26.3 18 new   Weir Group 26.2 19 ▲ (20) American Tower 26.0 20 ▼ (14) Tesco 25.6 Total Equity Investments: £2,711.7m Top 10 as % of Net Assets: 18.8%         Top 20 as % of Net Assets: 29.1% IMI and Republic Services have dropped out of the Top 20 * We have combined our holdings in BHP Billiton PLC (£43.9m) with our position in BHP Billiton Ltd (£28.5m) to show total exposure. Source: Internal. SECTOR WEIGHTINGS Top 5 overweight/underweight sector holdings*   Overweight/(underweight)% Mining 4.0 Industrial Engineering 3.0 Banks 1.9 Oil and Gas 1.8 Support Services 1.7 Travel & Leisure (1.5) Gas, Water & Multiutilities (1.5) Electricity (1.8) Financial Services (1.9) Fixed Line Telecommunications (2.6) Top 5 active overweight/underweight holdings*   Overweight/(underweight)% BHP Billiton 1.9 Rio Tinto 1.8 GlaxoSmithKline 1.7 BP 1.7 HSBC Holdings 1.7 Proctor & Gamble (0.6) IBM (0.6) Microsoft (0.8) Apple (1.0) Exxon Mobil Corp (1.2) Source: Internal Portfolio weight is calculated as a % of equity only. *FTSE All-World Index used  Weightings are calculated on a look through basis whereby holdings in the Trust's exposure is combined with that of its holdings in Alliance Trust Asset Management's funds in order to calculate total exposure. For further information, please contact: Evan Bruce-Gardyne Head of Investor Relations Alliance Trust PLC 8 West Marketgait Dundee DD1 1QN Tel: +44 (0)1382 321000 Email: investor@alliancetrust.co.uk [HUG#1464627] This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Alliance Trust PLC via Thomson Reuters ONE
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