At a time when much of the asset management industry is looking to consolidation and outsourcing to improve performance and reduce costs, a self-managed independent investment trust is going against the flow.
Alasdair McKinnon, who manages the small in-house team at Scottish Investment Trust from its base in Edinburgh city centre, practices what he describes as a “contrarian” philosophy. Essentially, that involves buying companies in ugly duckling territory and selling them when they become swans. According to Mr McKinnon: “That sounds easy, but it isn’t. When somebody says ‘black’, then we say, ‘OK, but let’s examine the paintwork underneath as it might be white.’ ”
Along with the ugly ducklings, the FTSE 250 constituent holds two other categories of companies: those where “change is afoot”