Alliance Trust chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox admitted recent performance has been “disappointing”, in the investment trust’s first set of results since the end of a bruising battle over strategy and performance with activist shareholder Elliott Advisors.

The trust, which found itself thrust into the spotlight earlier this year after Elliot Advisors demanded a boardroom overhaul and gained support from other investors, reached an 11th-hour truce with the hedge fund in late April, just a day ahead of a scheduled showdown vote at its annual meeting in Dundee.