Alliance Witan (ALW) Overview
Written by Boring Money
21 Oct, 2026
What is Alliance Witan?
Managed by WTW (Willis Towers Watson). Alliance Witan is built to be a core, one-stop global equity holding. Rather than relying on a single fund manager, WTW hand-picks a team of expert “stock pickers”, currently eleven of them, and asks each to run a concentrated portfolio of only their best ideas, up to 20 stocks each. Blending those picks together gives you highly focused stock-picking plus broad diversification in a single holding of around 212 companies. It aims for long-term capital growth and a rising dividend. It is also one of the UK’s largest and oldest investment trusts, with roots going back to 1888, formed in its current shape by the 2024 merger of Alliance Trust and Witan, and an AIC “Dividend Hero” that has raised its dividend every year for more than 50 years.
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Why is it rated by Boring Money?
If you want one fund that does the whole job, Alliance Witan is about as close as it gets. In a single, diversified holding, you get eleven specialist managers from around the world, each backing only their strongest ideas, pulled together into one global portfolio designed to grow your money and pay a steadily rising income. It is deliberately spread across regions, sectors and hundreds of companies to keep the ride smoother than a punchier, more concentrated fund. And because WTW buys in bulk, it is cheap, with ongoing charges well below most rivals. It won’t be the raciest trust on the shelf, and it isn’t meant to be. It is a sensible, low-cost, grown-up core holding for people who would rather not pick and manage lots of funds themselves.
Alliance Witan
How has Alliance Witan performed?
1-year Cumulative Performance | 3-year Cumulative Performance | 5-year Cumulative Performance | 10-year Cumulative Performance |
12.1% | 42.4% | 52.7% | 194.7% |
All data herein is sourced from FE fundinfo and is correct as at end September 2026. Boring Money is not responsible for any data discrepancies.
Why look at it now?
Three things stand out. First, it is cheap: ongoing charges of 0.47% are low for an actively managed global fund, and low costs leave more of your returns in your pocket. Second, the shares trade at a discount to the value of the underlying investments, so you can buy a pound of assets for a little under a pound. Third, its multi-manager design aims to deliver global growth and a rising income without the white-knuckle swings of a single-theme fund, which suits investors who want to stay invested for the long haul and sleep at night.
What is the risk rating for Alliance Witan?
We rank this at 4/5 on our For a guide on how spicy any trust is, we use FE fundinfo’s Risk Score and sort the trusts into one of our 5 chilli bands. Cash would be no chilli. A non-volatile smooth trust would be 1 or 2. The FTSE 100 would clock in as 4 chillies. Anything very volatile and spicy is a 5..
Alliance Witan is a broadly diversified global equity trust, spread across 212 companies, eleven managers, many countries and every major sector, so it sits lower on the risk scale than a single-country or single-sector fund. That said, it is still fully invested in shares, which can fall in value; overseas holdings bring currency risk, and it uses a modest amount of gearing (borrowing to invest) which magnifies both gains and losses. The deliberate diversification is designed to smooth the ride, but this remains a long-term investment that will rise and fall with markets.
What regions does Alliance Witan invest in?
Geography: North America 58.5% | Asia & Emerging Markets 20.0% | Europe 13.8% | UK 5.7% | Cash 2.0%
What sectors does Alliance Witan invest in?
A broad spread, led by technology, financials and industrials.
What are the top holdings?
Alliance Witan is very spread out: its biggest single holding is only around 4%, and the top ten is a line-up of global names you will recognise, from Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and NVIDIA to payments giants Visa and Mastercard. The full portfolio runs to roughly 212 companies, so no single stock can make or break it.
Top 10 holdings | Weight |
Microsoft | 4.1% |
Taiwan Semiconductor | 3.8% |
Alphabet | 3.3% |
Amazon | 3.0% |
NVIDIA | 2.8% |
Mastercard | 2.6% |
Samsung Electronics | 2.0% |
Visa | 1.6% |
SAP | 1.6% |
HCA Healthcare | 1.2% |
Top 10 holdings | Weight |
Microsoft | 4.1% |
Taiwan Semiconductor | 3.8% |
Alphabet | 3.3% |
Amazon | 3.0% |
NVIDIA | 2.8% |
Mastercard | 2.6% |
Samsung Electronics | 2.0% |
Visa | 1.6% |
SAP | 1.6% |
HCA Healthcare | 1.2% |
Source: Allaince Witan as at 31/08/2026
What are the key facts?
- A unique combination of letters and/or numbers used to identify a particular investment, such as a share or ETF, on a stock exchange. For example, the ticker for Apple stock on the NASDAQ index is AAPL, and the ticker for the Vanguard S&P 500 UCITS ETF is VUSA. ALW (London Stock Exchange)
- A unique 12-character code used to identify a financial security such as a share, bond, or fund. Like a barcode for an investment, an ISIN makes it possible to identify a specific security precisely and consistently across different markets and platforms worldwide. ISINs are used by brokers, exchanges, and investment platforms to ensure there is no confusion when buying or selling — particularly useful given that many companies and funds share similar names. GB00B11V7W98
- AIC sector: Global
- Manager: WTW (Willis Towers Watson), multi-manager approach with eleven stock pickers
- The standard against which an investment is measured in order to judge its relative performance, asset allocation or risk. It’s usually an index or fund that is used as a point of comparison for investments made up of similar assets.: MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI)
- The act of borrowing money to fund a company's operations. It can be expressed as a ratio, where the cost of the borrowed amount is compared to the overall value of the company - this is called the gearing or leverage ratio. 6.2% net (9.0% gross)
- Total assets: £5,741.6 million (net assets £5,346.5 million)
- Often shortened to "market cap", a commonly used measure of the size of a company or fund. It's calculated by adding together the total value of all shares. £5,083.5 million
- The total cost of holding an investment over the course of one year. It typically includes the management fee and other charges. 0.47% (year to 31 December 2025)
- A dividend yield is a financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its stock price. It is calculated by dividing the annual dividends per share by the current market price per share, and is typically expressed as a percentage. For example, if the share price of a company was £100 and the annual dividend was £3, that would mean the dividend yield was 3%. 2.1%
- When an investment's share price is lower than the total value of all its underlying assets. -4.9%
- Number of holdings: 212
- Dividend record: more than 50 consecutive years of increases (an AIC “Dividend Hero”)
Source: Alliance Witan as at 31/08/2026
Alliance Witan
