Alliance Trust plc, the £3.3 billion Dundee investment trust company, said the fund’s net asset value (NAV) Total Return was 11.1% for the six months ended June 30, 2023, significantly outperforming its benchmark index the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI) which returned 7.8%.

The fund’s 10 biggest investments at June 30 were Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Visa, UnitedHealth Group, Mastercard, Nvidia, Petrobras, ASML and Meta.

Alliance Trust uses external fund managers Willis Towers Watson (WTW).

Total Shareholder Return (TSR) was 7.6% due to a widening of the trust’s discount, which compared favourably with peers at -7.2% as of June 30 versus -11.1% for the AIC Global Sector average.

A second interim dividend of 6.34p per share was declared, up from 6.18p for the first interim dividend.

“Increased dividend level is expected to be at least maintained for the third and fourth interim dividends, giving an expected annual dividend increase of 5% year-on-year,” said Alliance Trust.

After completing a tenure of nine years, Gregor Stewart will step down from the board and his role as chairman at the year-end and will be succeeded by Dean Buckley, who joined the board in March 2021.

Stewart said: “I am pleased to report that the company significantly outperformed the market and most of its peers in the first half of 2023, despite volatile market conditions.

“This demonstrates the benefit of our diversified, high conviction approach.

“Although the economic outlook remains highly uncertain, the board believes the strategy is well designed to navigate different market environments and continue delivering attractive capital growth and a rising dividend.”