Certainly the new men, whom we’re told weren’t put forward by Elliott, are in the heavyweight division.
Karl Sternberg was a founding partner of Oxford Investment Partners where he worked until 2013. He now earns a crust sitting on several boards, and will serve as Alliance’s senior non executive director.
Chris Samuel is the more interesting appointment. He was the chief executive of Ignis before last year’s big money sale to Standard Life Investments, a deal his actions helped to bring about.
Those actions included shaking up its strategy and pursuing actions such as the outsourcing of its administration to HSBC.
Alliance’s critics have argued that it too could do with a bit of outsourcing, although in its case it is the investment management they’re most keen on seeing offered up to third parties.
"It’s going to take more than a good month at a bad time to save her."
<p>James Moore</p>
Regardless, Samuel would make an intriguing candidate to replace Garrett-Cox were she to be ushered out the door. That is becoming ever more likely as the old regime is steadily replaced.
In her recent blog post she spoke bullishly about Alliance’s portfolio holding up well in the midst of the Chinese turmoil.
Maybe so, but it’s going to take more than a good month at a bad time to save her.
Elliott Advisors is an unlikely hero. There’s not even any sheep’s clothing on this wolf. Its rap sheet includes wringing cash out of the bonds of ailing economies and it was involved in Comet before the retailer’s ugly collapse left the taxpayer with a huge bill.
But until very recently it has felt as if the message from Alliance to its small shareholders has amounted to “let them eat cake” while directors picked up fees and handed the chief executive an outsize salary.
Which is why those shareholders might be inclined to cry “forward the revolution” regardless of who’s leading it.
