A handful of Dundee finance jobs are to be lost as Alliance Trust slashes millions of pounds of costs from the business.
The Dundee-headquartered group told investors it was on track to deliver savings of £6 million from its investment operations by the end of 2016.
The group has been under pressure since it became embroiled in a public battle with its single largest shareholder, Elliot Advisors, earlier in the year over issues relating to the Trust’s board and its investment performance.
The company is currently in consultation with staff over potential redundancies in the investment of operations of the main Trust and of its ATI subsidiary.
The Courier understands the number of jobs at risk in Dundee is fewer than 10 and a similar number are also at risk at the group’s London office.
The Trust employs a total workforce of around 260 across its West Marketgait base and offices in Edinburgh and London.
While jobs are going within the investment business, new roles are still being created within the Trust’s savings arm the activity in which the bulk of the Dundee workforce is engaged.
In an update to the market yesterday, the Trust laid out the progress made towards a number of goals within its overall restructuring plan.
It said it had now adopted the MSCI All Country World Index as a formal benchmark against which its trading performance would be measured.
It has also moved towards an exit from the fixed income market with a 48% reduction in its overall exposure to £74m and initiated a sales process for its legacy mineral rights portfolio.
The Trust also told investors efforts to narrow the discount to net asset value by share buybacks was having an impact.
The group has spent tens of millions since the start of October buying and cancelling approximately 4.5% of the issued share capital of the Trust.
The move has seen the discount narrow to an average of 10.5% from 12.6% in the first nine months of the year.
Another major part of the jigsaw is the move to a revised management structure that will see chief executive Katherine Garret-Cox lose her place on the main board.
The arrangements will be in place early in the new year.
The company added: “The progress made underlines the board’s commitment to the strategy and its continuing belief that Alliance Trust is now well placed for the future.”
Shares closed 4p up at 499p.