If it should come to a stand-off between two peers of the realm, Glasgow’s Lord Smith of Kelvin may back himself to politely see off City grandee Lord Rothschild.
The veteran Scottish financier told Alliance Trust shareholders in Dundee earlier this month that accepting the job (on a third of his chairman’s salary at SSE) had been a “heart over head” decision. He has made clear his view of the Dundee-based company’s importance to the Scottish financial fabric.
He also had a positive story to tell. The loss-making subsidiaries, the more important of which to Dundee is Alliance Trust Savings which supports most of the 250 jobs there, are being scrutinised by separate boards and set profit targets. ATS believes it can achieve significant growth as the ‘platform’ market consolidates. Crucially the venerable trust’s investment performance, which for years threatened continually to undermine the crusading rhetoric of former leader Katherine Garrett-Cox, is improving.
Finally the discount of the shares to the trust’s asset value, that red flag which can attract activist investors like Elliott Advisors, appears to have been brought under control at 10 per cent or below.
But a merger plan with a well-regarded rival such as RIT, however embryonic, is likely to get other shareholders thinking about their options, and could effectively put Alliance Trust into play.
Lord Smith may need to deploy all his steely charm to ensure that the drum is beaten loudly for the continuing independence of an institution which is critical to Dundee and important for the Scottish financial sector.
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