trader jack
24 Jul 2015
Results You would hope that the ever fragrant KGC's business sense was better than her dress sense - those stockings, even the worst hussy in Essex would shy away from wearing something like that.Ye Gods!
II Editor
23 Jul 2015
NEW ARTICLE: Alliance Trust says results "disappointing" and promises change "The £2.7 billion LSE:ATST:Alliance Trust published its half-year results on Thursday (23 July), revealing that the fund has grown its net asset value (NAV) just 1.4% in the six months to 30 July while its share price grew 2.7%, underperforming ..."[link]
give the dog a bone
20 Jul 2015
crikey - it went up the share price rose - must be due to the SMT all vacating the building for their holidays.
trader jack
17 May 2015
Re: Oh, you poor dear, "Who does she think she is actually ? some kind of banker ? The sooner she flies the coop and allows the share price to rise the better the Board will be able to manage and return to a reasonable return. "Give the doga bone,What makes you think that the ever fragrant KGC wll fly the coop given the goddies she gets. The needs of the shareholders come a very poor second in her world.The best hope for us small shareholders is that a fox (Elliotts??) gets into the coop and she gets shot by mistake.
give the dog a bone
16 May 2015
Re: Oh, you poor dear, yeah ,, there's double barrel kay-ee heading off to having the hair done and the manicure and the outfitting and major amount of hours spent preparing the speech for an award that doesn't add a jot of value to the Trust. Just like a man would ... any chance we'll be told how much it cost the shareholders company in terms of downtime and incidentals having to support this kind of freebie (sic) /jollie. Anything to avoid a day's work in the office IMHO - this kind of skiving off and slacking off knowing that the costs can be charging to the Trust along with various consultants fees etc and sweet deals with the americans is laughable for a senior executive. No doubt t's the shareholders who have to pick up the tab for this kind of self delusion and arrogance. the real problem is that when the boss is off having a good old shindig, it's a guarantee that the rest of the crew are at the same behaviours. It happens in every company - anyone who steps out of line and complains is isolated and their life made hell. the good ones generally leave rather than be bullied .Not saying this is actually going on at the ATST but it';s a fair bet , there's a lot of unhappy people there putting up with this Napoleon-esque management style. or should that be Josephine-sque Who does she think she is actually ? some kind of banker ? The sooner she flies the coop and allows the share price to rise the better the Board will be able to manage and return to a reasonable return.
trader jack
15 May 2015
Oh, you poor dear, Is KGC losing it? From today's Telegraph:A top female City executive has claimed that her £1.3m pay package is only questioned by her critics because she is a woman.Katherine Garrett-Cox, who runs the the Alliance Trust investment firm and was named Veuve Clicquot's business woman of the year on Monday, complained that she has faced greater scrutiny because of her gender."I have to think that there is probably an element of that," she said, adding: "I can decide many things in terms of the business I manage, what I get paid is not one of them.• Alliance Trust chief scoops top businesswoman award despite recent turmoil"I have to confess to being completely overwhelmed by the level of coverage I've had in the last few months. Would that have happened if I was a man in the City? Probably not."An influential investment adviser, the Pensions and Investment Research Consultants (Pirc), advised shareholders to vote against Ms Garrett-Cox's pay package at last month's annual general meeting.Ms Garrett-Cox also called for women to be given an higher profile in the male-dominated world of finance.She told BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake up to Money programme: "A lot of people have been asking me over the past few days why we need to have an award still focussed on women. I think the straight truth of that is that there are still far too few women in business in general."I think the most important thing and the reason that I'm really proud to win this award is that I think the last time a woman from financial services was recognised in this way was a very long time ago.• Nine Veuve Clicquot award winners who swiftly came unstuck"We need to develop and inspire executive level women that will be best equipped and well equipped to step into boardrooms in due course.“When I speak to aspiring women in the financial services sector, the single thing they tell me that causes them to doubt whether they are in the right place is the tone from the top. We haven’t made as much progress as we should have done.”• Uneasy truce as trust vanishes within AllianceKatherine Garrett-Cox beat fellow finalists Julia Peyton-Jones, director of Serpentine Galleries, and Justine Roberts, founder and chief executive of parenting website Mumsnet, to claim the coveted Veuve Clicquot prize.From left: Emily Brooke of Blaze, Jude Ower of Playmob, and Smruti Siriam of Supreme Creations were shortlisted for the New Generation awardShe received the award following a challenging time for her Dundee-based fund.Alliance Trust bowed to pressure from US hedge fund Elliott Advisers last month to appoint two new board directors, following a month-long power battle.• On the hunt for the best young female entrepreneursMs Garrett-Cox said that the experience had taught her resilience, which every leader must learn. “I haven’t met a single successful business leader who hasn’t had a setback,” she said.“It’s not about that, it’s about how quickly you jump back in and how you deal with it.”Ms Garrett-Cox added that she had “drawn a line” under the situation. She said: “We have had more than our fair share of negative media attention.”
In the dark yet again
14 May 2015
Re: Does Alliance Trust listen? KGC trying to dig her way out of a hole?[link] rather than any opinion stated. Mind you, it is hard to get excited about this.... animated perhaps but not excited.Regards,ITDYA
trader jack
14 May 2015
Re: Does Alliance Trust listen? ITDYA"IMO basically no unless the intention is to build it profitable and then sell the whole shebang at a huge profit."I think AT would have to go some, but to me it seems more a case of the ever fragrant KGC just wanting to expand her empire more and more and become mistress (do I mean that?) of all she surveys.
In the dark yet again
14 May 2015
Re: Does Alliance Trust listen? £14m for 48k customers is £290 a head - given most brokers will pay 'exit' fees if you switch up to about that level it doesn't sound massively expensive...... unless they all run for the door immediately on transfer.Stocktrade's execution only 'service' was pretty expensive so, even though ATS's fees aren't really that competitive compared with some, there shouldn't be too much issue there..... unless it triggers people to go have a good look around since it's being moved anyway.A lot of the costs/overheads are pretty much fixed so customer number size is important.But you are of course right...... should ATST be in this business in the 1st place? IMO basically no unless the intention is to build it profitable and then sell the whole shebang at a huge profit.Somehow I don't think that will be the case.Regards,ITDYA
trader jack
14 May 2015
Re: Does Alliance Trust listen? As someone else has already mentioned: are the shareholders of Alliance Trust investing in an investment trust or in a financial services company?If they still see themselves as an investment trust surely the board has gone too far beyond its remit.
qwip
14 May 2015
Re: Does Alliance Trust listen? JackObviously not. From all I read and comment on here.shareholder view isSort the Trust out and please stop expensive grandiose ventures.Am I right?qwip
trader jack
14 May 2015
Does Alliance Trust listen? Is this what shareholders want?LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) - Alliance Trust, the investment company recently tackled by shareholders over issues of governance, strategy and performance, has struck a deal to buy a stockbroking business from Brewin Dolphin (LSE: BRW.L - news) for 14 million pounds.The proposed acquisition of Stocktrade by Alliance Trust Savings (Shenzhen: 300056.SZ - news) accelerates its parent company's movement into the provision of personal finance and sharedealing products.The deal has the potential to add more than 48,000 new customers and 4.6 billion pounds ($7.24 billion) of new assets, Alliance Trust said in a statement on Thursday.The company also said it expected the acquisition to transform ATS' current break-even profitability into "meaningful profit in 2016" prior to integration costs.Some of Alliance's shareholders have signalled disapproval of this strategy and demanded that the trust sell the subsidiary to focus on its core investment business."As set out in our vision 2020, our objective is to become the UK's most trusted investment and savings business," Chief Executive Katherine Garrett-Cox said."Over the last couple of months we have received a lot of valuable feedback from our shareholders. We are currently analysing that feedback and we will update shareholders further at our interim results in July."ATS currently administers more than 7.2 billion pounds in assets for around 57,000 customers. Completion of the transaction is expected to take place towards the end of the third quarter of 2015.
trader jack
08 May 2015
E-mail from Alliance Trust I received this message 5 minutes ago:Over the past six weeks Alliance Trust has received a large amount of coverage in the press and we recognise that this may have raised questions amongst our Alliance Trust Savings (“ATS”
customers. We hope that this letter will address any queries that you might have and will also reassure you of Alliance Trust’s unwavering commitment to, and belief in, ATS.As you may be aware, Elliott Advisors (“Elliott”, an activist investor, put forward resolutions to be considered at Alliance Trust PLC’s AGM on 29th April proposing three new directors to join the Board. The Board recommended shareholders to reject the resolutions, but after meeting a large number of them it became apparent that while there was no clear consensus, a significant portion wanted us to take action and implement some change. The feedback showed a desire for the Board to accelerate the implementation of our existing strategy and to deliver improved performance.As this feedback crystallised, the Board took the decision to reach a compromise with Elliott that involved appointing two of the proposed candidates to the Board in exchange for an agreement that they would not agitate against Alliance Trust for at least twelve months. In reaching this agreement, the Board has removed any distraction or sense of uncertainty surrounding Alliance Trust. The management and the team at ATS can focus exclusively on implementing strategy without disruption. We believe that this helps to provide comfort to our existing and future customers that their commitment and interest in seeing the business succeed goes beyond the next twelve months.More than ever, ATS is a key focus of the Trust as a whole, and we will be working tirelessly throughout the year, and going forward, to execute our plans for the business. We will continue to concentrate on the provision of award-winning customer service and enhancing our offering to both direct clients and intermediaries. ATS has come a long way in the past few years and has differentiated itself in a crowded market with its unique flat-fee pricing structure. It is already a top five player in the platform market and is well positioned to become a true market leader.We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of those of you who hold shares in Alliance Trust PLC within your accounts with ATS and who expressed your support for the Board. We know from the volume of correspondence that we received that many of you really appreciate what we are trying to deliver and we are extremely grateful for your continuing support.We hope this helps explain the position and our confidence in Alliance Trust Savings. We place a great deal of importance on your loyalty to us, and welcome all your comments and feedback.Yours sincerely,
New pilgrim
05 May 2015
Re: Risk Trader Jack,Basically, you thought you were investing in an investment trust, well, if you invested four or five year ago, you were. But as a shareholder in Alliance Trust today you own shares in a financial services company with aggressive plans for expansion, and have only a subordinated interest in the main AT fund.The difference in risk profile between a well diversified investment trust, and a financial service business is extreme. Think of all those small investors with all their money in AT, who AT say they are protecting!It makes one shiver.Put rather crudely, the management has stolen our fund, and used it as a mortgage on a financial service business. The first claims on the fund, are from the employees, customers, and clients of the financial serve subsidiaries. The fund also provides the regulatory capital in relation to any banking operations.
New pilgrim
05 May 2015
AT Shareholder Actin Group ATSAG A shareholder action group has been proposed to press the Company to reconsider its reckless course. ShareSoc have offered support, and ATSAG (or Alliance Trust Shareholders Action Group) . If you are interested please establish contact via [email protected].
