UK-listed investment company Alliance Trust has blamed the instability caused by the UK’s referendum on the European Union for derailing its investment performance during the first half of the year.

The Dundee-based firm, which in 2015 was embroiled in a bruising tussle with activist shareholder Elliott Advisors culminating in the departure of its chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox in March 2016, said in its half-year report released on July 22 that the net asset value total return of its trust was 6.6% during the period. Total shareholder return was 2.6%. Its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI, rose 12% during the period.