Alliance Trust demoted to FTSE 250

Alliance Trust has slipped out of the FTSE 100, while wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown has been promoted to the blue chip index.

At 8.50am this morning, the £2.8bn generalist trust's share price fell 1.19% to 354p on the news. However, Oriel analyst Iain Scouller believes if Alliance Trust had agreed to Laxey Partners' calls to reduce its discount from 18% to 10% it would still remain in the FTSE 100. Scouller says it is no surprise Alliance Trust has been demoted and adds the discount could now widen further. "This change has appeared likely for a number of weeks and will not come as any surprise to the market," says Scouller. "The shares are currently trading on an 18% discount and this has widened by a...