Elliott, the largest shareholder at Alliance Trust, is seeking a boardroom shake-up and said on Tuesday Alliance had underperformed its sector peers and its running costs were higher than had been reported.

Alliance Trust said its performance to March 24 on two relevant measures ranked in the top half of its peer group for the majority of the time periods most commonly referred to by investment professionals.

It added: "We believe that the company provides a high level of transparency over its cost base and refute Elliott's allegation that the true cost to shareholders is higher than reported."

(Reporting by Steve Slater, editing by Sinead Cruise)