Digital assets

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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>As with any investment, your capital may be at risk.</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Theo Golden:</strong> We are at a point of convergence. The worlds of traditional finance and on-chain finance are not colliding, but collaborating. The age of proof-of-concepts is over. Blockchain can fundamentally improve how we deliver investment services. It’s time to build.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Modern markets feel instantaneous, but the systems that define ownership and move markets are still fragmented, sequential and often manual. The consequence is friction embedded at the core of the system. Slower settlement, limited asset mobility and infrastructure that is far less adaptable than it should be. Tokenisation offers a simple but redefining model, where ownership of assets is recorded digitally, on-chain, as the ultimate source of truth and can move with greater clarity, efficiency and flexibility.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is not innovation at the margins. It is a chance to rebuild core market infrastructure for the better. For Baillie Gifford, that is the opportunity. Better infrastructure, better outcomes and a materially better client experience.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Sandy Jones:</strong> As an investment house, Baillie Gifford invests in some of the most transformative companies and themes globally. Digital assets and tokenisation have been core to this, and we sought to harness the disruptive power of blockchain technology to redefine our own business and how we can best service our clients. When we saw what was possible, we were compelled not to just launch products, but to build properly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We received regulatory permission to tokenise the UK UCITS fund through a fully native on-chain issuance model. This was a first, and since then, we’ve continued to engage constructively with our regulator while working closely with our world-leading technology partners to develop a new gold standard in tokenised funds. Our ambition is clear, to bring institutional-grade fund structuring to tokenised funds built from the bottom up for on-chain finance and capable of delivering real benefits to clients today.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Kathrin Hamilton:</strong> Baillie Gifford was established as an investment manager in 1908 and remains a privately owned unlimited liability partnership owned by people working in the business. The success of our business has always been built on evolving in line with client needs and embracing new technology. Tokenisation is the next iteration of this, providing a clear opportunity to improve the client experience by enabling round-the-clock access to our investment expertise and putting greater utility into the hands of investors.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But for us, tokenisation only matters if the result matches or surpasses the service we provide today, or as we put it, “the same but better”. Tokenisation to us means a product that can do more than our existing fund line-up, without giving up the discipline, controls or operational standards that matter. Simply put, institutional grade from the bottom up. To us, the better is about harnessing this technology to provide greater interoperability, create the building blocks for composable finance and put the value of optionality into the hands of our clients. We want to help you create your own positive flywheel effect.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">&nbsp;</p> <h3>Risk Factors</h3> <p>The views expressed should not be considered as advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a particular investment. They reflect opinion and should not be taken as statements of fact nor should any reliance be placed on them when making investment decisions.</p> <p>This communication was produced and approved in May 2026 and has not been updated subsequently. It represents views held at the time of writing and may not reflect current thinking.</p> <h3>Potential for Profit and Loss&nbsp;</h3> <p>All investment strategies have the potential for profit and loss, your or your clients’ capital may be at risk. Past performance is not a guide to future returns.&nbsp;</p> <p>This communication contains information on investments which does not constitute independent research. Accordingly, it is not subject to the protections afforded to independent research, but is classified as advertising under Art 68 of the Financial Services Act (‘FinSA’) and Baillie Gifford and its staff may have dealt in the investments concerned.</p> <p>All information is sourced from Baillie Gifford &amp; Co and is current unless otherwise stated.&nbsp;</p> <p>The images used in this communication are for illustrative purposes only.</p>