Catch up on Baillie Gifford’s latest investment trust news
Trust lists on the main market
The Schiehallion Fund, launched by Baillie Gifford to invest in private businesses, has joined the London Stock Exchange’s main market and entered the FTSE 250 index.
Completed last December, the market move allows everyone to invest in Schiehallion, which holds stakes in transformational private companies such as Anthropic and SpaceX. It comes at a time when more companies are staying private for longer, with more growth taking wing outside public markets.
Luca Ferrari, chief executive and co-founder of The Schiehallion Fund’s top holding, Bending Spoons
Photography courtesy Bending Spoons
Launched in 2019 and initially targeting institutional investors, Schiehallion invests in ‘growth stage’ private companies with the potential to become publicly traded. It can continue to hold these stocks after they list on public stock exchanges.
Schiehallion’s portfolio comprises some of the world’s largest and best-known private growth companies, including TikTok parent ByteDance, Stripe and Databricks. Closer to home, it has invested in the UK-based autonomous vehicle pioneer Wayve and the fintech firms Revolut and Wise.
Since 2012, Baillie Gifford has invested more than $10bn across more than160 growth companies.
Read our article about Schiehallion and Bending Spoons
Michael Taylor named co-manager
Michael Taylor has joined Malcolm MacColl and Helen Xiong as a co-manager of The Monks Investment Trust, following the retirement of Spencer Adair on 31 March.
Appointed a partner of the firm last year, Taylor started his career at BaillieGifford in 2009, before moving to Marathon Asset Management in 2014. He rejoined our firm in 2022.
Taylor graduated from the University of Oxford in 2008 and is a CFA charterholder.
See the latest on the Saba challenge
On 20 January, shareholders in Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWIT), managed by Baillie Gifford since 2003, rejected a second round of proposals by Saba Capital.
Investors representing 92.7 per cent of the Trust’s shares not held by Saba voted at a general meeting to reject resolutions to remove EWIT’s board and appoint Saba’s nominees.
Chair Jonathan Simpson-Dent said: “Shareholders have clearly stated their preference for EWIT’s unique and differentiated mandate, investing in some of the world’s most exciting and transformative companies.”
For the latest information on EWIT, visit edinburghworldwide.co.uk
Revised exit opportunity
Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon, the investment trust focusing on small Japanese companies, has responded to performance questions with a revised plan that offers shareholders a complete exit in five years if the trust’s net asset value (NAV) – the underlying value of the company’s holdings minus any debt – fails to outperform the MSCI Japan Small Cap Index by the end of 2030.
Following last year’s appointment of Brian Lum and Jared Anderson as manager and deputy manager, the trust will now:
- undertake a 15 per cent tender at a 2 per cent discount in the first quarter of this year
- cancel a tender offer for 2027 hold a one-off continuation vote in 2028 to decide whether the company should continue to exist
- introduce a performance-triggered tender offer for up to 100 per cent of its shares.
Important information
The views expressed in this article should not be considered as advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment. The article contains information and opinion on investments that does not constitute independent investment research, and is therefore not subject to the protections afforded to independent research.
Some of the views expressed are not necessarily those of Baillie Gifford. Investment markets and conditions can change rapidly, therefore the views expressed should not be taken as statements of fact nor should reliance be placed on them when making investment decisions.
Baillie Gifford & Co Limited is wholly owned by Baillie Gifford & Co. Both companies are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and are based at: Calton Square, 1 Greenside Row, Edinburgh EH1 3AN.
The investment trusts managed by Baillie Gifford & Co Limited are listed on the London Stock Exchange and are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
A Key Information Document is available by visiting bailliegifford.com
