Alliance Trust PLC (ATST): Paul Singer’s Elliott Increases Exposure to This UK Investment Trust

Paul Singer’s Elliott International* disclosed on Monday, with the London Stock Exchange, an increase in its stake in Alliance Trust PLC (LON:ATST). The fund acquired 4.93 million million CFDs (contracts for difference, a type of derivative security) over Ordinary Shares. It now owns 38.48 million CFDs over Ordinary Shares, which implies a 14.7% increase from its previous position. According to the filing, Elliott holds a total of 66.54 million voting rights, which account more than 12% of the total voting rights. The position comprises, in addition to the 38.48 million CFDs, 28.05 million Ordinary Shares. However, Elliott will only have voting rights of approximately 5%, the percentage of Ordinary Shares actually held, until the CFDs are exercised or converted.

Alliance Trust PLC (LON:ATST) is a, UK-based, £2.52 billion market cap publicly owned investment manager with approximately £2.87 billion ($5.64 billion) in assets under management. The firm also provides pensions and ISA/PEP services to its clients.

Recently, Alliance Trust PLC (LON:ATST) announced that, on September 8, it repurchased for cancellation 250,000 Ordinary Shares at an average price of £456.89 (about $743.73) per share. This means that the total number of voting rights in the company was now reduced to 553.35 million.

This is not the only UK asset manager that Elliott seems to like. The fund recently bought into F&C Asset Management plc (LON:FCAM) via derivatives contracts. It now owns an 11% of the company’s stock outstanding.

Elliott is also betting on Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES), of which it owns 17.3 million shares, worth more than $1.7 billion, and on Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR), of which it holds 39.24 million shares, worth almost $1 billion.

Following 27 new stock purchases, 12 increases in its exposure, and the closing of 9 of its preexisting stakes, Elliot last disclosed an equity portfolio –for the second quarter of 2014- worth more than $7.1 billion. Its focus was mainly put on energy stocks, which accounted for roughly 40.8% of its total equity portfolio, and, to a lesser extent, on information technology companies (29.6%).

* Elliott International and Elliott Associates are two of the funds that form the Elliott Management Corporation, which manages roughly $15 billion of capital for large institutional investors and wealthy individuals alike.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no positions in any stocks or funds mentioned