The £5.5 billion Dundee-headquartered investment trust company Alliance Witan plc said its share price total return for 2025 was 5.4% and its net asset value total return was 4.7% — trailing its benchmark index, the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI), which returned 13.9%.
The trust’s investment manager is Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The fund invests in global equities across a wide range of different sectors. Alliance Witan’s portfolio uses a distinctive multi-manager approach.
The company’s average discount narrowed to 4.1% from 4.7% at the end of 2024, supported by share buybacks.
Total dividend for 2025 was 28.32p per share — a 6.1% increase on the previous year, the 59th consecutive annual increase.
Dundee-headquartered Alliance Trust plc and London-based Witan Investment Trust plc merged in 2024 to create Alliance Witan, a FTSE 100 company managing more than £5 billion of assets.
Craig Baker, Stuart Gray and Mark Davis, the Willis Towers Watson fund managers responsible for Alliance Witan, wrote: “Naturally, we would have preferred to keep pace with the index’s outstanding performance. But, as we and others have highlighted before, the unusual concentration of a few US mega-cap stocks in the index has created distortions that could rapidly correct if conditions change.
“History shows market reversals can often be sudden, so rather than chase short term winners, we believe it’s prudent to stay focused on investing in high-quality, yet undervalued, companies, diversified by country, sector and investment style.
“Not all of them have been recognised as such by the market yet, but we’re confident that their strong fundamental attributes will be rewarded by higher share prices in the long run.
“Although we are convinced that AI will result in profound change in the business world, last year’s underperformance versus the index in part reflected a relative lack of exposure to the cyclical and, in many cases, speculative stocks that rose the most.
“These included raw material stocks and some risky AI-related businesses, many of which have unproven business models. For example, Palantir Technologies, which started out in 2008 as a defence contractor but now emphasises AI technology, has only ever had one full year of profitability.
“Yet its share price more than doubled last year. The company may well be the ‘next big thing’, warranting the share price surge, but as the FT recently pointed out, its anticipated growth is ‘the stuff of dreams’ (FT Aug 25, 2025).
“We were also underweight banks, such as US giants JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, as well as some of their European counterparts, which performed very well, due to a range of factors including the normalisation of interest rates which allowed them to earn more on the wider margin between borrowing and lending.
“While some may consider our lighter position in bank stocks a missed opportunity during their rally, we maintained this stance because banks tend to be volatile and unpredictable over the long run.”
Alliance Witan’s biggest holdings included Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Mastercard, Taiwan Semiconductor, Visa, Unilever, UnitedHealth Group and London Stock Exchange.
Alliance Witan chair Dean Buckley said: “This represents a second year in which we have not fully kept up with extremely strong index returns and that has negatively impacted longer term relative returns.
“Nevertheless, we still have a strong track record of delivering attractive absolute returns over the long term and a rising dividend, while maintaining a disciplined approach to diversification and risk management.
“Your Board recognises that relative underperformance is disappointing and is fully engaged with the Investment Manager on seeking to improve performance for shareholders over the long term.
“It is perhaps worth noting that many active global managers have struggled to outperform concentrated markets, which have been driven to a large extent by passive money flows and sentiment around AI.
“Fundamentals and valuations ultimately drive share prices, and it is our belief that our portfolio is strong on both counts and represents a significant store of value relative to that of the index.”