It was billed as potentially one of the most aggressive sighting shots against a FTSE 100 company. In March the New York-based activist investor Elliott Advisors disclosed that it had quietly built a 5 per cent stake in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT).
Elliott’s reputation for ferocity and opportunism has been second to none. It once seized an Argentine warship to apply pressure for a payout to bondholders. It has previously targeted another giant UK investment trust, Alliance Trust, in a siege that led to the expulsion of its chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox, or Katherine the Great as she was dubbed in parts of the City.
Instead of war, though, Elliott appears to be withdrawing its forces from SMT. On Friday it disclosed that it