Alliance Witan falls short of benchmark but dividend growth continues
Alliance Witan PLC on Friday reported a positive first-half total return, and increased its dividend in line with guidance.
The Dundee, Scotland-registered investment trust, which is managed by Willis Tower Watson, reported a net asset value per share of 1,416.5 pence as of June 30. This is 5.9% higher against 1,337.2p per share six months prior, and up 11% from 1,281.9 one year prior.
Alliance Witan shares traded 1.4% higher at 1,348.00p at around midday on Friday in London.
Alliance Witan's NAV total return for the first half of 2026 is plus 7.0%, improved from minus 0.7% the year before. Its share price total return was plus 6.0%.
The company underperformed against its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, which delivered a plus 12.7% return compared with plus 0.6% the previous year.
Chair Dean Buckley noted that "relative performance was below the board's expectations," adding: "The shortfall reflected a market in which returns were unusually concentrated in AI-related stocks, where our deliberately diversified portfolio did not participate in every area of momentum."
Alliance Witan declared a 7.33p second interim dividend, up 3.5% year-on-year from 7.08p. It previously declared a 7.33p first interim dividend in April, and said it planned to maintain this amount for all its 2026 quarterly payouts, an expectation it reiterated on Friday.
This would bring the 2026 total dividend to 29.32p, up 3.5% from 28.32p for 2025, and represent the 60th consecutive increase in Alliance Witan's annual dividend.
The top contributors to Alliance Witan's portfolio included Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, Apple Inc, and Samsung Electronics Co. The top ten detractors included Micron Technology Inc, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, and Intel Corp.
The trust's investment manager, WTW, noted the "stratospheric" initial public offering of SpaceX, and the potential IPOs of Anthropic and OpenAI, but added: "It is an open question whether investors will have the appetite to swallow more AI stocks with demanding valuations and uncertain cashflow outlooks."
Looking ahead, Buckley commented: "The board has continued to challenge WTW and engage with the stock pickers to understand the drivers of performance and to assess whether the portfolio remains well positioned to deliver strong returns for shareholders.
"With the board's support, WTW is conducting a structured review of the investment strategy including stock picker selection, stock selection, portfolio construction, and risk management. While no major change is expected to the company's diversified, high-conviction approach, the review will guide any future enhancements to our investment process as we endeavour to improve shareholder outcomes."
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