Records of British Assets Trust Ltd, investment trust, Edinburgh, Scotland

Reference
- GB 248 UGD 228/2
Dates of Creation
- 1897-1972
Name of Creator
- British Assets Trust Ltd (investment trust: 1898-c1988: Edinburgh, Scotland)
Physical Description
- 4.6 metres

Scope and Content

Ledgers 1911-1966
Brokers' ledger 1965-1967
Journals 1942-1965
Register of investments 1899-1943, 1959-1967
Investment records 1952-1968
Dividend register 1952-1967
Share records 1897-1946
Register of members 1898-1926
Register of directors 1898-1950
Statements 1898-1946
Purchase and sales records 1961-1964
Debentures repayable book 1932-1972
Cash book 1955-1962

Administrative / Biographical History

James Ivory (1862-1939) was born in 1862, the son of William Ivory, Advocate, Sheriff of Inverness, Elgin and Nairn, Scotland, and Janet H Rankin. He was educated at Harrow School, England, before spending some time in Hanover, Germany. On his return to Edinburgh, Scotland, he was apprenticed to Moncrieff & Horsburgh , chartered accountants, qualifying as a CA in 1886 and setting up his own firm in that year. In 1887, he married Florence T Wyckoff of New York, USA, and went on to have two sons and two daughters.

In 1895 , Ivory went into partnership with Thomas Watson Sime, CA, as Ivory & Sime . This partnership lasted until 1907 when Sime emigrated to Canada. That year also saw the company's incorporation as a limited liability company, Ivory & Sime Ltd .

The late nineteenth century was a period when many Edinburgh lawyers were developing a growing interest in the management and investment of other people's money, the investment trust movement having come into being with the creation of the Scottish American Investment Co Ltd in 1873 , by William Menzies. In 1898 , James Ivory set up British Assets Trust Ltd , an overseas investment company in Edinburgh, with a capital of £15,000 and by 1939 the trust was managing funds totalling £7million. This company was separate from Ivory & Sime, but was linked to it by its directors. From this time Ivory & Sime became associated with the management of investment trusts and by 1985 was managing a total of 13 investment trusts all of which were listed on the London stock exchange as public limited companies.

British Assets Trust Ltd invested in mainly American and Australian stocks and shares in companies such as banks, building societies, lighting companies and railroads but there was also some investment in Scottish financial companies. In 1905 , British Assets Trust Ltd acquired the assets and funds of the Caledonian Assets Trust Ltd , investment trust, Edinburgh, when that company was liquidated. In 1920, the company acquired the share capital of the Edinburgh American Land Mortgage Co Ltd , renaming it in 1925 as the Second British Assets Trust Ltd . These companies came under the management of Ivory & Sime Ltd and were registered at the same offices in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh.

The company became a public limited company as British Assets Trust plc, probably in 1988 at the same time as Ivory & Sime became Ivory & Sime plc. In 2003, the company was still trading with interests predominantly in the UK and others in America, Japan and Europe.

Arrangement

The material has been arranged into series as shown in the scope and content. Within series, items are generally arranged chronologically.

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Permanent loan : via BACS : June 1986 :ACCN 0084

Other Finding Aids

The catalogue of British Assets Trust Ltd's records exists as part of the UGD 228 finding aid which also includes catalogues of companies owned by Ivory & Sime Ltd or in which they had an interest. A digital file level list is available searchroom.

Manual file list available at the National Registers of Archives in Edinburgh (NRA(S)1577, replaced by NRA(S)2764) and London (NRA21280)