Help and support
For explanations of financial products, disclosures and our consumer duty requirements.
Consumer duty
Consumer duty is the Financial Conduct Authority’s flagship regulatory reform in consumer protection and competition. It sets higher and clearer standards of care for firms to follow when serving retail consumers and ensures businesses put consumers’ needs first.
On this page, you can find out what Consumer duty is, Baillie Gifford’s response and what you can expect from us.
Our goal with Consumer duty is to provide you with good outcomes. That means helping you understand the intended benefit of our products, their value and who we designed them for so you can decide whether they are right for you. We also share how consumer duty aligns with Baillie Gifford’s core values.
FCA obligations
There is one consumer principle:
“A firm must act to deliver good outcomes to retail customers” – meaning FCA-regulated firms should operate with your best interests at heart.
There are three cross-cutting rules that apply to every aspect of a firm’s conduct:
- Act in good faith towards retail customers
- Avoid causing foreseeable harm to retail customers
- Enable and support retail customers to pursue their financial objectives
There are four outcomes that firms must therefore pursue:
- Products and services
- Price and value
- Consumer understanding
- Consumer support
Our shared beliefs
Putting our customers’ needs first is not a new concept to us. Our shared beliefs are at the core of everything we do at Baillie Gifford. These are the principles that guide us every day, defining our firm’s culture. They include:
- Our clients come first.
- Our firm must be an engaging and progressive place to work.
- Our actions and behaviours should support society as a whole.
You will see that they resonate with Consumer Duty strongly, especially our belief that we must put our clients’ interests ahead of our own.
Products and services
The first outcome covered under consumer duty is products and services. Products and services must be fit for purpose and designed to “meet the needs, characteristics and objectives of a target group of customers and distributed appropriately”.
In other words, you should expect what we offer you to work as we have said it will and to be appropriate for your needs. Use the links provided to learn more about our products and services, including how we approve new products. You can search using different methods, including document type, fund range and investment style.
Fund literature
Find all our fund-related literature here, including OEIC prospectuses and more.
New product approval process
Outlining our product approval process and how we apply the UK and European product governance and consumer duty requirements.
Worldwide funds prospectus
This document contains important information about the company and the funds and should be read carefully before investing.
Price and value
The second outcome relates to price and value. It is about safeguarding ‘fair value’ for our customers, so you only pay what is reasonable for what is being offered. It is important that our funds’ costs and charges are transparent so that you can understand the value our products provide. This helps ensure that we maintain value for everyone and allows our customers and advisers to select funds best suited to their needs.
Every year, we publish a value report for our Irish Worldwide Funds and for our UK Funds (OEICs). You may notice that there are differences in the scope of the value reports. This is because the two fund ranges are prepared according to different regulations.
Baillie Gifford & Co Ltd value report
Read the latest value assessment for our range of UK OEICs.
Costs and charges report
Our summary document makes it easier for you to compare the costs and charges of our funds.
Consumer understanding
The third outcome, consumer understanding, focuses on providing you with the information you need to make an informed decision. We keep consumer understanding at the forefront of the design and delivery of our communications.
Baillie Gifford produces a wealth of content describing our products and services in our literature and documents library.
We recently partnered with a third-party research company to test various retail-facing materials, including written content, podcasts, events and webinars.
We are using the feedback from these sessions to better provide our customers with useful and informative communications in an engaging format.
This testing and feedback is an ongoing process. You can share your feedback on any of the materials and forms on our website by emailing us.
If you wish to make a complaint about any of our materials or forms, please read the complaints handling procedure.
Fund literature
Find all our fund-related literature here, including OEIC prospectuses and more.
Events and webinars
We host a range of in-person events and online webinars, giving you the chance to listen to our insights and to put questions directly to our fund managers.
Consumer support
The final outcome covers consumer support. In short, we support you at all times during your relationship with us, and if your needs change, we can adapt the support we provide.
Our customer service
It is of the utmost importance to us that we treat all customers with respect and according to their needs, as this embodies our core beliefs.
We want you to fully realise the benefits of the products you invest in, pursuing your financial objectives in a way that is in your best interests.
With excellent customer service at the heart of our business, we fully embrace the consumer support outcome. We recognise the importance of adequately supporting you throughout your investment with us.
Our promise of excellent customer service applies whether you invest with us directly or indirectly through other providers. We respond to your calls and enquiries fully, quickly and efficiently.
If you call and we’re unable to answer, you’ll be directed to our in-person messaging system and we will respond to it accordingly.
Customers in vulnerable circumstances
If you find yourself in a vulnerable situation following events such as bereavement or illness then your needs may change in terms of how we interact and communicate with you, but rest assured that our Client Relations staff have received training from a range of organisations. These staff can direct you towards appropriate help and deal with your enquiries with empathy and understanding.
Accessibility
We also aim to ensure that we are as accessible as possible. For example, we can provide our literature in braille, audio or large print on request.
We have redesigned our website to be more accessible for all users, including those who are neurodivergent or have physical or sensory differences.
Complaints handling procedure
Explaining what you should do if you wish to make a complaint to Baillie Gifford, and the procedures that will be followed by Baillie Gifford on receipt of a complaint.
Fraudulent activity
Established organisations like Baillie Gifford are often targeted by fraudsters to add the appearance of legitimacy to their crimes.
Frequently asked questions
For important information on topics such as bereavements, OEIC investments and more, view our FAQs.