Interim Management Statement

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

For Quarter Ending 31 October 2009

Material developments

Over the last quarter, global equities have performed strongly. Total return on
the FTSE All-World Index (£) was 7.5% and the FTSE All-Share Index 10.7%.
Yields on Government Bonds fell, while commodity prices have been strong with
both oil and gold up over 10%. Currencies have been very volatile, with
Sterling and the US dollar under pressure, particularly against the Euro and
Yen. Economic and earnings data have improved and provided a better fundamental
backdrop for asset markets.

• We have continued to increase the core equity exposure of the Trust to 90.6%
of Net Assets with net debt at 2.0%, switching the equity portfolio towards
those sectors and stocks that will benefit from the anticipated upturn in
economic activity. We still believe that the consumer will remain subdued for
some time, hence our underweight positions in Consumer Goods and Services as
well as Utilities and Healthcare. Our largest overweight positions remain in
Oil & Gas, Industrials and Basic Materials.

• Most companies beat market expectations this quarter. Guidance and clarity
for 2010 and beyond is improved, which should provide support for current
market valuations, which were starting to look a little stretched in certain
areas. Our concerns regarding the withdrawal of Quantitative Easing and the
associated risks remain. However, on balance, we remain cautiously optimistic
and continue to seek out long-term opportunities in quality companies with
strong balance sheets, good cash flow and high-quality management.

• For the first time, on 14 October 2009, Alliance Trust bought back some of
its own shares. 4.85m shares (0.7%) were purchased costing £15.4m, at a
discount of over 18%. The decision, approved by the Board, was undertaken as an
investment decision; it does not presage the introduction of a discount control
policy.

• We are monitoring the progress of the draft Alternative Investment Fund
Managers (AIFM) directive in the European Parliament. The current draft of the
directive does not take account of the structure of investment trusts, thus
reducing choice and increasing costs for investors. The revised draft proposed
by the Swedish Presidency of the European Council has addressed some issues,
but others remain. We are making representations directly and through trade
bodies to address these concerns.

KEY FACTS

Total Net Assets:              £2,429.4m           
                                                   
NAV Total Return from 31/07/09 8.5%                
to 31/10/09:                                       
                                                   
Total Expense Ratio (year to   0.70%               
31/01/09):                                         
                                                   
NAV:                           365.2p+             
                                                   
The NAV is published daily on                      
our website                                        
www.alliancetrust.co.uk                            
                                                   
Discount                       17.3%+              
                                                   
Share price*:                  302.0p+             
                                                   
* Source: Fundamental Data     + At 30 October 2009

ASSET ALLOCATION %

Equities       90.6
                   
Private         3.2
Equity             
                   
Preference      1.7
Shares             
                   
Subsidiaries    0.8
                   
Property        2.5
                   
Other           2.8
investments        
                   
Cash            0.5
                   
Other Net       0.3
Assets             
                   
Gross Assets  102.5
                   
Gearing       (2.5)
                   
Net Assets    100.0

EQUITY PORTFOLIO DISTRIBUTION

GEOGRAPHIC (EQUITY ONLY)         INDUSTRY (EQUITY ONLY)   
                                                          
                         %                               %
                                                          
United Kingdom        42.0       Financials           22.0
                                                          
North America         28.2       Industrials          16.5
                                                          
Pan Asia              16.0       Oil & Gas            15.7
                                                          
Europe                13.6       Consumer Goods        9.9
                                                          
Emerging Markets       0.2       Technology            8.8
                                                          
                                 Basic Materials       8.4
                                                          
                                 Consumer Services     7.0
                                                          
                                 Health Care           6.7
                                                          
                                 Telecommunications    3.2
                                                          
                                 Utilities             1.8

Top 20 equity investments

Rank     Movement     Rank last    Name                        Value £m       
                      qtr                                                     
                                                                              
1        -            (1)          BP                          78.3           
                                                                              
2        -            (2)          HSBC                        77.7           
                                                                              
3        -            (3)          Royal Dutch Shell           58.2           
                                                                              
4        â–²            (6)          Rio Tinto                   53.1           
                                                                              
5        -            (5)          Vodafone                    36.4           
                                                                              
6        â–²            (7)          British American Tobacco    35.2           
                                                                              
7        â–¼            (4)          GlaxoSmithKline             34.2           
                                                                              
8        â–²            (11)         BHP Billiton                34.2           
                                                                              
9        â–²            (10)         Diamond Offshore            33.2           
                                                                              
10       â–¼            (8)          Phillip Morris              32.9           
                                                                              
11       â–²            (18)         Prudential                  30.9           
                                                                              
12       (new)                     Suncor Energy               30.6           
                                                                              
13       â–²            (16)         Diageo                      29.7           
                                                                              
14       â–¼            (9)          Scottish and Southern       26.9           
                                                                              
15       (new)                     InterOil                    26.7           
                                                                              
16       â–¼            (13)         Standard Chartered          26.4           
                                                                              
17       â–¼            (14)         Republic Services           26.4           
                                                                              
18       (new)                     Tesco                       25.9           
                                                                              
19       â–¼            (15)         New York Community Bancorp  25.6           
                                                                              
20       â–¼            (19)         Reckitt Benckiser           23.3           

Petro-Canada, Johnson & Johnson and Cisco have dropped out of the Top 20.

Total Equity Investments: £2,203.6m

Top 10 as % of Net Assets: 19.5% Top 20 as % of Total: 30.7%

TRUST PERFORMANCE

                      1 Year       2 Years      3 Years     5 Years   10 Years 
                                                                               
Price                 23.5%        -18.6%       -16.8%       16.4%      -1.8%  
                                                                               
Total Return          27.0%        -14.0%       -10.3%       31.4%      25.9%  
                                                                               
NAV Total Return      16.6%        -16.3%        -5.9%       32.1%      25.9%  
                                                                               
FTSE All-World        18.3%        -15.8%        -5.3%       23.7%     -15.4%² 
Index (£) -Price¹                                                              
                                                                               
FTSE All-World        22.0%        -10.9%        2.5%        39.9%     16.0%²  
Index (£) -Total                                                               
Return¹                                                                        

¹ Alliance Trust does not have a fixed benchmark

² 10 Year returns are based on the performance of the FTSE World Index (£)

Source: Internal/Fundamental Data

SECTOR WEIGHTINGS

Top 5 overweight/underweight sector holdings**†

                                  Overweight/
                               (underweight)%
                                             
Mining                                    3.9
                                             
Oil & Gas Producers                       2.9
                                             
Support Services                          2.8
                                             
Tobacco                                   2.1
                                             
Life Insurance                            1.9
                                             
Pharmaceuticals &                       (1.7)
Biotechnology                                
                                             
Software & Computer                     (1.7)
Services                                     
                                             
Food Producers                          (1.8)
                                             
Industrial Metals                       (1.9)
                                             
General Financial                       (2.7)

Top 5 active overweight/underweight holdings**†

                                  Overweight/
                               (underweight)%
                                             
BP                                        2.8
                                             
HSBC Holdings                             2.7
                                             
Rio Tinto                                 2.1
                                             
Royal Dutch Shell                         1.9
                                             
Diamond Offshore                          1.5
                                             
Chevron                                 (0.6)
                                             
International Business                  (0.6)
Machines                                     
                                             
Apple                                   (0.7)
                                             
Microsoft                               (1.0)
                                             
Exxon Mobil                             (1.4)

Portfolio weight is calculated as a % of equity only.

**FTSE All-World Index used

† Weightings are calculated on a look through basis whereby holdings in the
Trust's exposure is combined with that of its holdings in Alliance Trust Asset
Management's funds in order to calculate total exposure.

For further information, please contact:

Evan Bruce-Gardyne

Head of Investor Relations

Alliance Trust PLC

8 West Marketgait

Dundee

DD1 1QN

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]