Alliance Trust, the UK-based investment and financial services group, has appointed Kelly O’Donnell to the newly created role of Managing Director of Distribution for its financial services subsidiary business, Alliance Trust Savings. She will report to chief executive Janet Pope. Ms O’Donnell takes on responsibility for strategic development across the intermediary and institutional distribution channels of Alliance Trust Savings, in addition to her existing responsibilities as Group Head of Investor Relations and running the Investment Trust Services business for Alliance Trust Saving. Since joining Alliance Trust in August 2005, she has been instrumental in establishing third party relationships with a number of investment trusts and driving the transfer of specialist account administration business from trusts that include Investec, Martin Currie and, most recently, Montanaro. Ms O’Donnell began her career at Morgan Stanley in New York in US institutional equity broking and was appointed to manage US equity sales trading from London. She joined NatWest Markets in 1996, where she was vice-president, UK Equity Sales, and then moved to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership in 2003 as Investment Director for Investment Trusts. Alliance Trust manages around £3 billion of assets. Alliance Trust Savings, a wholly-owned subsidiary, provides investment dealing, self-invested personal pensions and investment wrappers. As of 31 January 2007, it administers nearly £4.8 billion on behalf of more than 44,000 customers.