Friday Briefing: Not so strange bedfellows

Friday Briefing

Three months on from the retirement of Witan CEO Andrew Bell, which sparked a strategic review of the vehicle, investors have been offered a solution – merge with Alliance Trust to form a likely FTSE 100 company.

If approved, shareholders will find themselves invested in the £5bn Alliance Witan, which will be led by the former, with Alliance chair Dean Buckley maintaining his role in the new trust, while Witan's Andrew Ross will take the deputy seat. There are many similarities between the vehicles, particularly their multi-manager approach, so shareholders may not find too much to balk at from the merger, but there is still plenty to consider before they cast their votes in the autumn. Friday Briefing: And now we wait for August Described as the "most logical move" by Stifel analysts, inv...