Scottish Investment Trust to review management

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Scottish Investment Trust to review management

The board of the Scottish Investment Trust has appointed consultants to review its investment management arrangements. 

The board is inviting proposals from established fund management groups as it undertakes the review with Stanhope Consulting.

In a statement to the stock exchange this morning (June 2), the trust said it had adopted a "high conviction, contrarian investment" approach in 2015 and planned to review its returns after a minimum of five years.

The trust is currently managed by Alasdair McKinnon with Martin Robertson being deputy manager.

Although it does not have a formal benchmark, the board said the trust’s NAV total return has underperformed the sterling total return of the MSCI all country world index over the five years to the end of April 2021.

The MSCI index was 5 per cent for the year to October 31, and the trust saw a share price total return of -12 per cent for the year to October 31, with a NAV total return of -10.6 per cent.

The board added that despite the announcement, it noted that the current management arrangements have delivered strong recent short-term growth, and there was “no certainty” that any changes would result from the review.

It stated: "The board invites proposals from established fund management groups, with the experience of managing listed closed-ended funds, designed to deliver, over the longer term, above index returns through a diversified global portfolio of attractively valued companies with good earnings prospects and sustainable dividend growth.

"Any such proposals will be considered alongside the current management arrangements, which the board notes have delivered strong recent short-term performance. Interested parties are invited to contact Stanhope Consulting."

sally.hickey@ft.com