2008 Annual Report - Alliance Trust

Alliance Trust PLC Report & Accounts | 3
Hugh Bolland and John Hylands.
Following the year end your Company entered the FTSE 100.
Being part of the FTSE 100 has the benefit of bringing the
Company to the notice of a wider range of investors but it does
not affect the way in which the company or its assets
are managed.
“We are as determined as ever to
deliver real growth over the
medium to long term.”
As evidence of management’s commitment to delivery of a real
return for shareholders, we introduced a new long term
incentive plan last year, following shareholder approval. This
incorporates a performance hurdle which is intended to ensure
that only where shareholders see the benefit of a return on their
investment which significantly outstrips inflation will
management start to benefit from the plan, and full awards
under the plan will only be made for genuinely outstanding
returns. The sharp fall in markets in the final weeks of the
financial year serves to underline the challenge represented by a
performance hurdle based on real return over a three year
period, since the challenge now becomes that much greater in
the remaining two years.
While senior management incentives are based on significant
real returns, at investment manager level the onus is still on
each manager to maximise the returns available within their
own asset class or region utilising the capital allocated to them
through our asset allocation process, benchmarking against the
most relevant index for their own portfolio.
Our financial services subsidiary, Alliance Trust Savings continued
to invest during the year. Growth in client numbers is strong and
we remain convinced of the potential for this business to create
long-term value for shareholders as it delivers innovative
products and services to meet the aspirations of clients to make
provision for their financial security.
Board changes
There were a number of changes to the Board in the period
under review. As previously announced in January 2007, we
were delighted to welcome Katherine Garrett-Cox as Chief
Investment Officer in May.
Hugh Bolland joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in
July 2007, bringing with him 30 years of investment
Annual General Meeting 2007.
management experience both in the UK and the Asia-Pacific
region with Schroder Investment Management. More recently,
John Hylands joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in
February 2008, following a career with Standard Life where he
held a variety of actuarial, financial and marketing roles, before
becoming Finance Director from 2001 to 2005 and subsequently
leading its demutualisation project. I am delighted to welcome
two such able and experienced directors who will add greatly to
the debate around the Board table as we shape our strategy for
the future.
Gordon McQueen resigned from the Board in March this year,
having given much wise counsel during his time as a Non-
Executive Director for which we are grateful. Janet Pope also
left the Board in March this year having played an important
role in our financial services business for the past 16 months as
Chief Executive of Alliance Trust Savings. We wish them both
well for the future.
Annual General Meeting
Once again we will be holding our AGM in Dundee at the Hilton
Hotel, overlooking the Tay. In addition to the usual business of
the meeting we will be proposing changes to our Articles of
Association to reflect the impact of the new Companies Act, as
explained more fully in the notice of meeting. Over and above
the formal business, the AGM is an excellent way of finding out
more about the progress of your Company and I would
encourage you to attend.
Overview Business Review Governance Directors’ Remuneration Financial Statements
Information for
Shareholders