Alliance Trust private investors pose problem for Elliott hopes

Alliance Trust may find inertia its most powerful weapon in the attempt to fight off Elliott Advisors' proposals for change at the company.

Later this month, the £2.4bn trust's shareholders will vote on the appointment of three new board members proposed by the company's largest individual shareholder, Elliott Advisors. The proposals have sparked a fierce back and forth between the trust and Elliott, with the board suggesting the hedge fund has hidden motives. Elliott has strongly rejected those claims, but Alliance Trust's history with activists suggest it faces an uphill struggle in its attempts to force change. Alliance Trust was last targeted by activists in 2012, when Laxey Partners proposed a radical change in th...