Alliance Trust's chairman has appealed to shareholders for a vote of confidence in its board ahead of this month's annual meeting.
Karin Forseke, in an appeal to small shareholders to vote against the election of three new directors onto the seven-strong board, says she does not propose to repeat the company' defence against the proposal by activist 12per cent shareholder Elliott Advisers. "But after all the claims and counter-claims have been made, it comes down to a simple question- who do you trust to run your company?"
In her letter to the company's 60,000 shareholders ahead of the meeting in Dundee on April 29, Ms Forseke claims that one of Alliance's key strengths is "the strength of the relationship with all of our shareholders", adding: " This applies equally to large and small investors, institutional and retail, often built over successive generations."
Elliott Advisors, however, was "a business that seeks to influence companies to change their strategic direction through public and disruptive campaigns". They did this "to create value for their own investors and we believe they have very different perspectives from other shareholders of Alliance Trust".
The real issue was not about three director candidates but about "Elliott's plans for the future of the company" and "to date, neither Elliott nor the candidates they have proposed join your board have shared their plans".
Alliance has previously claimed that Elliott plans to force a tender offer for up to 40 per cent of the trust's shares.
Ms Forseke writes: "My fellow directors and I are acutely aware of our responsibility for the stewardship of the company's heritage and its role in creating and protecting our investors' wealth for over 126 years. It is this that underpins our vision 'to be the UK's most trusted investment and savings business'. We believe that the strategy we have set for our company will help us to achieve this vision, by delivering strong and sustainable investment performance for shareholders over the longer term."
She urges shareholders to vote against the Elliott resolutions.
Alliance has been under fire from two institutional advisory groups, Pirc and ISS, as well as from small investor group ShareSoc, for dismissing the three candidates put forward by Elliott as additions to its board. It has also so far failed to respond to some key criticisms of its case, with ISS's 17-page report using "meaningful" peer group comparisons on performance, costs and executive pay, to paint a different picture from Alliance's.
The chairman says she "believes that strong corporate governance is fundamental to the way our company is managed", and that the board is accountable to shareholders who "expect us to act with integrity and transparency in everything we do on your behalf".
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