1. Overview

    The Japanese Fund aims to outperform (after deduction of costs) the TOPIX, as stated in Sterling, by at least 1.5% per annum over rolling five year periods. There is no guarantee that this objective will be achieved over any time period and actual investment returns may differ from this objective, particularly over shorter time periods.

    The manager believes this is an appropriate benchmark given the investment policy of the Fund and the approach taken by the manager when investing. In addition, the manager believes an appropriate performance comparison for this Fund is the Investment Association Japan Sector.

    Performance & Portfolio

    Periodic Performance

    All figures to 31/10/2023

    6 Months

    1 Year

    3 Years

    5 Years

    Class B-Acc -8.5%-1.0%-3.5%0.9%
    Index* 3.1%11.6%4.1%4.0%
    Target Benchmark** 3.9%13.3%5.7%5.5%

    Annual Discrete Performance to 30 September each year

    Annual percentage return (Updated Quarterly)

    30/09/2018
    30/09/2019

    30/09/2019
    30/09/2020

    30/09/2020
    30/09/2021

    30/09/2021
    30/09/2022

    30/09/2022
    30/09/2023

    Class B-Acc 1.4%7.9%12.4%-19.3%0.6%
    Index* -0.3%2.4%15.6%-13.5%15.1%
    Target Benchmark** 1.2%3.9%17.4%-12.2%16.9%
    Sector Average*** -1.1%5.6%16.7%-15.4%11.3%

    Please bear in mind that past performance is not a guide to future performance.
    The value of your investment may go down as well as up, and you may not get back the amount you invested.

    Source: FE, Revolution, Tokyo Stock Exchange. Total return in sterling.
    Share class and Sector returns calculated using 10am prices, while the Index is calculated close-to-close.
    *TOPIX.
    **TOPIX (in sterling) plus at least 1.5% per annum over rolling five-year periods.
    ***IA Japan Sector.

    Figures for 3 and 5 years show the annual rate of return.

    Top Ten Holdings - 31/10/2023

    Fund %
    1 SoftBank Group 5.5%
    2 Sumitomo Mitsui Trust 4.9%
    3 SBI Holdings 4.2%
    4 Rakuten 3.7%
    5 MS&AD Insurance 3.5%
    6 GMO Internet 3.3%
    7 Nintendo 3.3%
    8 Sony 3.2%
    9 Bridgestone 3.1%
    10 Kubota 2.8%
    Total 37.4%
    SECTOR ANALYSIS OF TOTAL ASSETS - 31/10/2023

    Fund %

    • 1 Man & Machinery 18.48
    • 2 Financials 16.82
    • 3 Electricals & Electronics 16.32
    • 4 Commerce & Services 15.66
    • 5 Info, Comm And Utilities 12.71
    • 6 Chemicals & Other Materials 8.76
    • 7 Pharmaceuticals & Foods 5.27
    • 8 Real Estate & Construction 3.19
    • 9 Retail 1.68
    • 10 Communication Services 0.82
    • 11 Cash 0.28
    • Total 100.00

    As the Fund invests in overseas securities, changes in the rates of exchange may cause the value of your investment (and any income it may pay) to go down or up.
    The information contained on this page is intended as a guide only and should not be relied upon when making investment decisions. All holdings information is unaudited. Source Baillie Gifford & Co.
    Please note that totals may not add due to rounding.

    Meet the Managers

    Matthew Brett

    Matthew is an Investment Manager in the Japanese Equities Team. He is Manager of the Japanese Fund (and related All Cap strategy segregated accounts), Manager of the Baillie Gifford Japan Trust, and Co-Manager of the Japanese Income Growth Fund. He is also a member of the Global Stewardship Portfolio Construction Group. Matthew graduated BA (Hons) in Natural Sciences (Psychology) from the University of Cambridge in 2000 and holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Bristol. He joined Baillie Gifford in 2003 and became a Partner in 2018.

    Documents

    You can access any literature about the Fund here, either by downloading or requesting a copy by post (where available).

    To download any document you will need Adobe Reader. Please note that we can now provide you with Braille and audio transcriptions of our literature on request. It may take up to 10 days for the transcription to be completed dependent on the size of the document.

    Complaints

    In the first instance, clients should contact their normal Client Contact with any concerns. Alternatively, or for those clients who do not have a direct client contact assigned, complaints can be emailed to Baillie Gifford’s Compliance Department at: InstitutionalComplaints@bailliegifford.com. A summary document which contains details on Baillie Gifford’s complaints management policy is available upon request. All material complaints are recorded in an in-house incident management system and are escalated to, and dealt with by, members of staff of suitable seniority, independent of the area from which the matter arose.