Insights

How Baillie Gifford’s mutually beneficial network of academic connections makes us see the world differently.

How Orkney’s renewable energy projects can inform our investment choices.

How the Positive Change Strategy backs firms tackling social and environmental challenges.

Supporting companies with the potential to transform the field of healthcare and generate attractive returns.

The Global Stewardship team on climate change, carbon emissions and sustainable growth companies.

Demand for meat is growing, but traditional production is costly. Could in vitro agriculture be our panacea?

The Positive Change Team’s latest impact report, covering our activity over the last five years and plans for the future.

In the context of high inflation and market volatility, portfolio managers James Dow and Toby Ross discuss current views and explain how focusing on long-term income growth remains critical to facing these challenges.

To 31 May 2022.

It’s a small country with lots of innovative businesses. Stephen Paice explores what’s so great about Sweden.

Online infrastructures and digital developments in the education, energy, and transport sectors make for an exciting future.

Tim Garratt considers how we value exciting businesses and reflects on what we lose when we fail to imagine.

The Health Innovation team on ESG, the future of medicine and making a positive global impact.

Academic partnerships that generate new ideas.

Smartphone-centric retailers drive innovation.

Spotting companies with potential in the renewables, energy storage and carbon reduction sectors.

Baillie Gifford’s Risk Team has been considering how firms can reduce their vulnerability to rising prices.

Disruptive change within the entertainment world creates a wealth of opportunity.

Growth stocks have crashed down to earth. Has growth had its day or will it come back stronger?

It’s not that we do ESG, but how we do it. The ESG Team list 2021’s key stewardship activities.

Is a greener world achievable? In this webinar, Client Service Director Stephen Corr interviews Investment Analyst Calum Holt, International Alpha, on why he believes we are at a turning point in the energy transition.

Part 6 - Alignment.

Part 5 - Insight.

Part 4 - Scalability.

Part 3 – Sustainability.

Part 2 – Competitive Edge.

Part 1 - Opportunity.

Introducing the Radar.

Join Roddy Snell and Ben Durrant to discuss current views and portfolio positioning for the Asia ex Japan strategy and learn why we continue to believe this is the most attractive region globally for growth investors.

The questions we should consider to avoid being led astray by ESG risk scores.

Radical companies may seem risky, but they’re building the future. Paulina McPadden, Spencer Adair and Lawrence Burns discuss how investing in firms with extraordinary potential is a simple approach to long-term wealth creation.

If ESG scores are not the answer, how does Global Income Growth Team’s ESG approach measure up?

Join Stephen Paice, head of the Baillie Gifford European Equities team, as he discusses his research on the European companies that have increased in value 10x or more, delving into their history, common characteristics, and where they are likely to occur in the future.

Apps and online courses have upended the economics of education, making learning more accessible, fun and relevant. Positive Change’s Thaiha Nguyen explains.

Virtual goods and the value of digital data pose unresolved challenges to economists, investors and regulators.

Investment Managers Tom Slater, Gary Robinson, Kirsty Gibson and Dave Bujnowski share their thoughts on the investment environment, explain why they believe there is scope for upside from here, and discuss their search for transformational growth companies.

The enduring power of Moore’s Law and other factors that might matter in the next decade of investing.

Understanding the difference between pessimism and possibility in Emerging Markets.

Join Investment Managers Tom Slater, Gary Robinson, Kirsty Gibson and Dave Bujnowski as they share their thoughts on the investment environment, explain why they believe there is scope for upside from here, and discuss their search for transformational growth companies.

How Baillie Gifford’s Smaller Companies Fund’s ‘radar’ picks up tomorrow’s game-changing growth businesses.

Academia has taught us that size matters – provided you can effectively control for quality. Fortunately, as Steve Vaughan explains, that is the fundamental role of active stock pickers.

Join Portfolio Construction Group Member, Joe Faraday and Client Service Manager, Andrew Daynes, as they discuss the importance of maintaining consistency in uncertain times.

Baillie Gifford spots investment opportunities in a smartphone-transformed nation.

Solar power and cheap green energy makes for a promising future.

SpaceX, Epic Games and Stripe: the list of the unlisted continues to grow. How can investors benefit?

Responsible business practices are fundamental to delivering sustainable long-term growth and addressing global challenges.

In their Research Agenda for 2022, the investment managers consider the benefits of deep work in helping them find growth opportunities.

When the going gets tough, exceptional companies keep going. Stephen Paice on Europe’s best.

Join Brian Lum, Charlie Broughton & Richard Gall as they reflect on the first three years of the Smaller Companies strategy.

In this webinar summary, Nick Thomas and Christel Brodie, investment specialists, cover growth investing during difficult periods and highlight the long-term growth drivers in the International Growth portfolio.

New technologies, plummeting costs and our own changing behaviours all promise progress in the energy transition– just don’t expect it to come in a straight line.

Nick Thomas hosts a discussion of the investment landscape with his Portfolio Construction Group colleagues, Tom Coutts and Julia Angeles.

Investing in great growth companies to make a big difference.

If we are to deliver extraordinary returns, we must be more open-minded than the crowd.

James Budden on holding your nerve through short-term setbacks and supporting exceptional growth companies.

Operational performance is a better indicator of growth than inflation. Malcolm MacColl shares why

The special considerations at play when we invest in high-growth, late-stage unlisted firms.

Gary Robinson, investment manager at Baillie Gifford, responds to questions on inflation and valuation.

Scott Nisbet interviews the Long Term Global Growth decision-makers discussing volatility, inflation, interest rates, China and portfolio holdings: Roblox, SEA, Moderna and Coupang.

Looking before we leap into industry initiatives.

Learn about the up-and-coming sustainable companies radically shaping a more prosperous future.

Good investing takes quick reactions as well as a long-term vision.

Why so many tech founders and CEOs have emerged from the Indian Institutes of Technology.

Toby Ross and Diane Esson reflect on the past three years of the Responsible Global Equity Income Strategy.

Why the forthcoming Health Innovation Impact Strategy should focus minds.

LTGG is making efforts to improve environmental, social and governance metrics.

Some people look at life as sustaining the now, while sowing the seeds for a better tomorrow. Global Income Growth think the same way. In this film we explore their philosophy and how when searching for a lifetime of income, they choose growth.

For Global Stewardship, climate opportunities go hand in hand with climate challenges

Regulation and what we look for in companies’ responses.

ESG experts Marianne Harper Gow, Ed Whitten and Abhi Parajuli talk about the Social aspect of ESG in the context of investing.

Central banks may find it hard to tackle price rises, requiring fine-tuning to fund strategies.

Investment manager Sophie Earnshaw shares her latest thoughts on investing in China.

Japan’s ability to anticipate technological change should see it through the ups and downs to come.

Today’s investment managers should support companies doing the most to benefit society.

Planning for future income demands preparation for an unknown tomorrow. In this film we explore the philosophy of Multi Asset Income and how they are seeking real income, time after time.

Tim Garratt, Michael Pye and Caroline Cook reflect on the investment implications of arguably the most significant meeting of world leaders this millennium, COP 26.

Over four decades Japan has seen 21 prime ministers come and go. Exporters such as Toyota and Toshiba have flourished but the country has also struggled with debt and deflation. Matthew Brett, investment manager, discusses what’s next.

Investing in private companies applying today’s early-stage tech to create tomorrow’s world.

The use of information science to unlock biology is revolutionising our health and wellbeing.

Willingness to change gives Chinese firms an innovation advantage.

Good investing takes quick reactions as well as a long-term vision.

Baillie Gifford signs up to an asset managers initiative as COP26 begins.

Plant-based proteins, hi-tech tractors and vertical farms are set to disrupt agriculture.

Electric cars on the road and flying taxis in the air will change the way people commute and live.

A convergence of technologies is paving the way for advances in our understanding of biology.

Disruptive fintechs are paving the way to a world without physical money.

A focus on diversity and inclusion can result in competitive advantage.

The challenge companies face to meet net zero emission targets.

Investment manager Malcolm MacColl and Senior Governance and Sustainability Analyst Kieran Murray outline believed growth drivers and the development of Global Alpha’s ESG process.

Watch the highlights from the recent Global Alpha webinar: Harnessing growth for the next decade.

With a focus on the future of mobility, the speakers discuss the ideas that will shape the way we live and work, and the companies that will drive disruption and innovation.

How the digital natives’ wants and needs create opportunities for forward-thinking Chinese companies.

What a US academic taught us about the companies that outperform.

Women dropping out of employment should weigh on investors’ minds.

Investors can have the most impact by focusing on sustainability laggards, not leaders.

Why emerging markets firms struggle to get high ESG scores.

Evaluating emerging market stocks by taking a mental leap into the future.

Watch the recordings from our week-long 'Disruption Week' event, during which we covered the exciting topics of healthcare, transport, digital payment platforms and sustainable agriculture.

Baillie Gifford’s James Anderson warns of the risks of ill-defined sustainability metrics.

Why loosening control can help companies become more innovative.

Investing in the makers of revolutionary products tests nerves but can bring big rewards.

Baillie Gifford launches a new offering seeking out America’s most entrepreneurial new companies.

Alicia Cowley, member of the Asia Client Service Team, is joined by ESG specialists Marianne Harper Gow and Michelle O’Keefe to discuss the burning question: Does climate change pose a risk to investment returns or are we able to identify investment opportunities in this area?

Alasdair McHugh, product specialist on the Global Stewardship Team, discusses how the necessary journey towards net zero is approached by the Global Stewardship Strategy.

How do we save a planet? Paulina Sliwinska invests in the companies tackling climate change.

At Baillie Gifford, we don’t focus on the present. We focus on what the world could look like in 15- or 20-years’ time. We focus on how our needs and expectations are evolving and what they might look like in the future. We explore the industries in which disruption and innovation are creating change, and we dedicate ourselves to finding the companies driving this change. Watch this animation to find out more.

Economist John Kay and investment manager James Anderson discuss how changing attitudes to known unknowns could make us better investors.

Chaos is often associated with a failure of leadership. Gary Robinson, partner in the US Equities Team, argues that the best bosses don’t resist disorder but channel it to create ‘chaordic organisations’ in which innovation thrives.

Investment Specialist Christel Brodie speaks to Tom Coutts, Investment Manager on Baillie Gifford’s International Growth Strategy, about his recent thought piece ‘What Picasso can teach us about investing’. Coutts discusses how the process of, and reactions to, change in the art world can be closely compared to how we as investors look at the world today and what it could be in the future.

A brief summary of Baillie Gifford’s beliefs, purpose and strategy.

Andrew Cave, Head of Governance and Sustainability, and Stuart Dunbar, Partner and Client Director, explain why ESG investing should not become a data and metric-driven exercise. Instead, we should be focusing on real world outcomes and investing in businesses that are helping drive forward change.

In a world full of noise and excessive choice, it helps to see things from a different perspective. In this film we explore the philosophy behind High Yield Bond and how seeking resilience is time well spent.

Are your investments as good for the environment and society as you think they are? Stuart Dunbar, partner at Baillie Gifford, explains why too many people have been lulled into a false sense of security by metrics-based approaches to ESG that don’t support the transition to a more sustainable society.

Thinking about long-term income means thinking about what ‘can be’, not what ‘is’. In this film we explore the philosophy behind Strategic Bond and how, when it comes to income, there’s no time like the future.

Cubism changed art by depicting objects from multiple perspectives. Investors can learn from this approach by looking beyond the narrow confines of the financial industry and seeking a wide range of viewpoints rooted in the real world, argues Tom Coutts, partner at Baillie Gifford.

Positive Change invests in businesses that can help solve global challenges. But, as Kate Fox explains, the impact that some of the most influential companies have on daily lives is hidden from view.

We are at the dawn of a golden age of medicine. We will soon have the ability to treat and cure diseases that have long been untreatable and incurable.

The Global Alpha Paris-Aligned portfolio offers a pathway for clients to align their assets with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Here, we provide some background to the Paris Accords and outline how we aim to implement its objectives.

David McIntyre and Calum Holt summarise their thoughts on the potential transformation of the European energy industry and how this is being embraced in our Multi Asset funds.

In this webinar, Product Specialist Alasdair McHugh talks to Caroline Cook, Senior Analyst in the Governance & Sustainability Team, about active investment, the energy transition, where we are now and how far we need to go.

Could the messenger RNA vaccines deployed against Covid, help fight cancer and other diseases? After a year of crisis, Julia Angeles, co-manager of Baillie Gifford’s Health Innovation Fund, looks at the positive signs.

Donald Farquharson, head of the Japanese Equity Team at Baillie Gifford, speaks to Japan-based strategy researchers Akiko Hirai and Satoko Ishino.

His career spanned big changes in investment – and in the fortunes of Baillie Gifford. Charles Plowden, joint senior partner and manager of Monks Investment Trust, looks at the opportunities ahead.

A wave of revolutionary new technologies is set to transform the way we travel from A to B. In this short series, Thaiha Nguyen, a Baillie Gifford investment manager, takes an in-depth look at the business of personal transport on the brink of change.

A wave of revolutionary new technologies is set to transform the way we travel from A to B. In this short series, Thaiha Nguyen, a Baillie Gifford investment manager, takes an in-depth look at the business of personal transport on the brink of change.

A wave of revolutionary new technologies is set to transform the way we travel from A to B. In this short series, Thaiha Nguyen, a Baillie Gifford investment manager, takes an in-depth look at the business of personal transport on the brink of change.

A wave of revolutionary new technologies is set to transform the way we travel from A to B. In this short series, Thaiha Nguyen, a Baillie Gifford investment manager, takes an in-depth look at the business of personal transport on the brink of change.

On the back of humanity's innate ability to innovate, invent and improve, Hamish Maxwell is reminded of why growth investing yields such promise over the long-term.

The logic of long-term investing means that companies harming the planet and its people will ultimately be losers.

Product specialist Jack Torrance talks to Julia Angeles and Marina Record, investment managers of the Health Innovation Strategy. The team discuss the journey they embarked upon to launch the strategy, the way in which 2020 has accelerated trends in the healthcare space, and what they think human health will look like in the future.

Investment manager Lawrence Burns shares the views of brilliant minds outside the industry that will reshape your view of what equity investing is all about.

Are there limits to economic growth? Will we run out of ideas? Investment manager Lee Qian explains why he’s confident innovation will create a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive world.

The artificial barriers between private and public companies are disappearing, but the investment world has not kept up. Investment managers Tom Slater, Chris Evdaimon, Peter Singlehurst and Rob Natzler discuss Baillie Gifford’s refreshing approach to investing in late-stage private companies.

Lee Qian, Investment Manager in Baillie Gifford’s Positive Change Strategy, tells us why we should harness innovation and economic growth to create a more prosperous, sustainable and inclusive world.

Private companies matter to long-term growth investors as never before. Tom Slater, investment manager and partner at Baillie Gifford, talks to his colleagues Peter Singlehurst, Chris Evdaimon and Robert Natzler about why this is and how it shapes Baillie Gifford’s approach to investing in private companies.

The digital disruption of the high street accelerated during the pandemic. Baillie Gifford’s Moritz Sitte explores the innovative ways in which European retailers are reshaping the future of shopping.

Investment manager Josie Bentley explains why Sartorius Stedim, biologic drug equipment and product provider, not only has exciting growth opportunity, but is also a company fundamentally intertwined with a better future for society.

Baillie Gifford’s Charles Plowden, co-manager of Global Alpha, hails a firm whose ambitions match the vastness of the subcontinent of India.

How does a company de-age? Jared Anderson thinks about how Japanese companies are changing their working practices to meet modern expectations.

This webinar, moderated by Mark Urquhart, head of our Long Term Global Growth Team, includes an update from the STOPCOVID team based at Edinburgh University. STOPCOVID is a global initiative to harness and progress medical science across sectors to improve treatments and end the pandemic. We hear from Kev Dhaliwal, Professor of Molecular Imaging and Healthcare Technology and Honorary Consultant in Respiratory Medicine.

The starting point for investing in biotechs is science that is credible, scalable and differentiated. But that on its own does not guarantee a commercially successful business. The Health Innovation Team share their approach to investing in biotech at a time when the pace of innovation is exploding and the possibilities are endless.

Client director Jon Henry talks through the highlights of the recent Global Alpha webinar on ‘Mental Models’, a concept introduced earlier this year in the Global Alpha Research Agenda. In this webinar, client director Ben Drury talked to Global Alpha investment managers Helen Xiong and Malcolm MacColl about mental models and how they are incorporated into the team’s investment research process.

There’s no such thing as a big European tech platform, or is there? Chris Davies explores the rise of European platform businesses, questioning whether they are coming of age.

China has defied recession in 2020, but where to now? Investment manager Roderick Snell anticipates big things ahead.

It’s time to stop looking in the rear-view mirror when it comes to emerging markets. Conventional wisdom always extrapolates recent experience, but after a decade in which both economic growth and equity returns have been lacklustre relative to the rest of the world – and with relative valuations now back at multi-decade lows – we worry that investors have badly misunderstood the depth of the transformation that has been taking place in our asset class.

Has the pandemic ushered in a return of mid-20th century economics? With unprecedented stimulus replacing austerity, David McIntyre argues that monetary policy has given way to fiscal policy, creating new opportunities for multi asset portfolios.

With valuation formulas found wanting once again, Mark Urquhart writes in praise of uncertainty.

The future is inherently uncertain, but the acceleration of disruption, developments in innovation and shifts in consumption patterns will create winners and losers. China will play a critical role.

The companies that interest Lee Qian most are the ones that are driving society forward while rewarding shareholders. Iona Bain talks to the Positive Change Fund co-manager about capitalism at its best.

More of us are living longer, staying healthier for longer and working for longer. What are the implications for investing and financing this longer life? Listen to Baillie Gifford’s Steven Hay to find out.

Members of the Japanese Equities Team explain the philosophy and processes of the strategies that exist within Baillie Gifford’s Japanese Equities capabilities.

Navigating Noise, a video series brought to you by the Long Term Global Growth team, seeks to gather and share some of the thinking we find so valuable when investing for the long term.

Much like an art curator, the role of the investment manager involves carefully selecting investments that will make a mark and grow in value over time.

To stand the best chance of owning the winning companies of the 2030s, we should imagine how bizarre today’s ‘normal’ will seem when the next generation looks back.

Julia Angeles, investment manager on the Health Innovation Team, speaks to Claire Bell, former newspaper journalist and inquisitive researcher for Baillie Gifford. Angeles and Bell discuss the hot topics of data, artificial intelligence and ethics.

Everyone wants to make a difference, and capital thoughtfully and responsibly deployed is a powerful mechanism for change. In seeking out companies whose products and services are providing solutions to global challenges, we believe a proactive investment approach can also be the basis of attractive investment returns. Investment Managers Kate Fox and Lee Qian explain why positive change really matters.

Ben Drury, client director, talks to Helen Xiong, an investor and soon-to-be key decision maker for the Global Alpha strategy. Helen explains what she has learnt from her past experience with Baillie Gifford, what she will bring to the team in her new role, and what she is excited about moving forward.

Income investing has been shaken by the coronavirus, but how will this affect the dividend payers of the future? Baillie Gifford investment manager James Dow gives us a glimpse of the potential star performers of tomorrow.

We have been investing in the world’s great growth opportunities since 1908.

We have been investing in the world’s great growth opportunities since 1908.

We are in an era of great convergence. The Health Innovation strategy seeks to support this era of change by looking out for innovative and pioneering companies that have the potential to bring substantial improvements to human health and healthcare systems.

For Full Year 2019, updating on contributions towards a more sustainable and inclusive world.

Interview with Stuart Dunbar.

Technological developments over recent decades mean reality has outpaced the science fiction of his youth since Mark Urquhart joined Baillie Gifford almost 25 years ago. Now, scanning the Covid-19 driven global economy, he sets out his enthusiasm and expectations for the next decade and beyond.

First to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, the Asia ex Japan region is in robust health and its innovative companies are thriving. Roderick Snell surveys the Asian landscape and argues that Asia is where to look for superior long-term growth.

Growth stocks have generally fared better than value stocks during the coronavirus downturn. Tom Slater, partner and head of Baillie Gifford’s US Equities Team explains why.

We’re living longer, but are we living better? Baillie Gifford’s Health Innovation team is searching for companies whose cutting-edge science and innovative therapies are redefining healthcare. Put simply, healthcare has never looked as good for those seeking more from their investment.

Baillie Gifford’s first company-wide diversity and inclusion magazine about the individuals who make up our firm.

Medical developments are increasingly dependent on technology. Baillie Gifford investors look at some of the more innovative companies and their importance in the current pandemic, as well as considering how the situation we are living through will lay the foundations for a new era in healthcare, underpinned by data.

Are the abrupt changes brought about by the coronavirus (Covid-19) temporary or permanent? Dave Bujnowski considers how a post-coronavirus future may look, and where the biggest changes might be.

Scott Nisbet tells Malcolm Borthwick what he’s learnt from previous crises, why he’s staying calm and why now’s the time to read Albert Camus.

Fifty years after Apollo 11, can a fresh wave of innovation in space technology open new frontiers and promising investment opportunities? Investment manager, Luke Ward looks across the gulf of space and gives us his views.

We’re living longer, but are we living better? Baillie Gifford’s Health Innovation team is searching for companies whose cutting-edge science and innovative therapies are redefining healthcare. Put simply, healthcare has never looked as good for those seeking more from their investment.

Growing familiarity with China’s markets invites closer examination of governance at a country and corporate level. A company by company approach is vital to limit the risks and find the opportunities, writes Ben Lloyd.

Investment manager, Praveen Kumar explains why the Japanese cosmetics industry is in a period of rapid growth and how it could be set to continue for the long term. October 2019.

It’s essential to be realistic and keep the risk of over-optimism in check. But there’s plenty to feel positive about in emerging markets, says Tim Erskine-Murray, who offers an insight into the reasons for his unwavering enthusiasm.

The big four incumbents in robotics are gearing up for a challenge. In a reshaping global industry, they are readying themselves for the march of the cobots.

Investment manager Gary Robinson explains why Shopify is a great example of what Global Stewardship is looking for – a growing company, whose management team thinks for the long term and balances the needs of all stakeholders, and whose products add real value for society.

Our support of inquisitive people plays a crucial role in our investment research. Discover more in our academia anthology.

Toby Ross on how we engage on responsible taxation.

Civil society has increasingly questioned and challenged corporate behaviour and activity since the 1960s. This film documents a number of corporate disasters that have caught the public attention over the last 75 years, and have led to some profound changes.

Zaki Sabir explains why the Global Stewardship Portfolio Construction Group are very hopeful that LendingTree will be a rewarding investment for clients.

Malcolm Borthwick is joined by investment manager Milena Mileva to discuss how profound changes in consumer behaviour are changing the retail landscape both online and in bricks-and-mortar stores.

Ben Buckler explores the A share opportunity in China.

There are lots of reasons not to invest in Europe. Its economic growth is uninspiring and much of its stock index is made up of bureaucratic corporate dinosaurs. But beyond the negative headlines, there are still exciting investment opportunities to be found. They include potential tenbaggers – companies whose share price could increase ten-fold.

Industrial biotech companies can already produce synthetic spider silk and plant-based burgers that taste like meat. Future possibilities include timber produced from yeast. In the latest episode of our podcast, Kirsty Gibson tells Malcolm Borthwick why she's fascinated by the opportunities of industrial biotech and its enormous investment potential.

The task in hand is to remind our clients what investing actually means. Stuart Dunbar makes a passionate plea for 'actual' managers to demonstrate that we have our clients' best interests at heart.

Active management in emerging markets - Claire Phillips and Andrew Keiller explain why it is important to be selective rather than follow the index and outline the potential rewards such an approach can bring.