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<p><strong>Your capital is at risk. Past performance is not a guide to future returns.</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Matthew Coyle (MC):</strong> Hello, and good morning from a sunny Edinburgh. Welcome to the first quarter webinar for International Growth. My name is Matt Coyle, and I'm delighted to be joined by Katie Muir.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, I hope everyone is having a good start to the spring. I think it's a very important time just to provide this update with lots going on in the world, whether it be the continued dominance of AI and also the events that are taking place in the Middle East. There are certainly no shortage of talking points as we start the second quarter. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, Katie, maybe just to start with a bit of backdrop: what's been keeping you and the team busy, and your thoughts in terms of that broader backdrop?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Katie Muir (KM):</strong> Yeah, sure, thanks. Morning, everyone, thanks for joining us again. Thanks, Matt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think, you know, as you mentioned, the past five years have actually been a pretty eventful and tough backdrop for long-term active managers to navigate. We’ve seen a succession of shocks over the past five years, you know, from Covid, supply chain disruption, inflation rates, wars, rising political tensions, and lots of policy and regulatory uncertainty. And that's led to quite a lot, an increase in volatility and more short-term volatility as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And international markets, you know, growth investors have also been facing quite strong style headwinds, in areas of the markets that have done well recently. Those have typically been lower-quality, kind of more cyclical and value-oriented sectors. So, not ones that you would typically find in a long-term growth-orientated portfolio. So, that's been difficult, as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then I think the other area is- if you look at developed markets outside the US last year, last year was one of the worst performances for quality indices in around 30 years. So, again, that was quite tough for us as a manager focused on both growth and quality growth.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But we know markets can be unsettled in the short term, and they're prone to latching on to the dominant narrative at the time, and there's been plenty to latch on to more recently, as you say – conflict in the Gulf and the prospect of higher energy has definitely been the more recent focus. But towards the end of last year, we saw concerns around tariffs and an AI capex bubble, a way to more of an acceptance of generative AI as an important new technology, and we really think that is true. But that's left markets grappling with some of the implications of what that means for different industries – most notably software, more recently.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>MC:</strong> Yeah, and I think that's a really interesting one. It definitely feels like there's a bit of a disconnect, at the moment. And it almost feels like anything AI-related, there's a lot of positive noise around where that could go. But anything from a software perspective, that definitely feels like there's been an indiscriminate markdown of a lot of valuations and the share prices there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Maybe a good time just to touch on some of that performance, in terms of what's been happening more recently. So yeah, if you're happy to guide us through that, that would be great.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>KM: </strong>Yeah, sure. I mean, I'll maybe start with the kind of longer-term timeframe first, and then we'll dig into the quarter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But that backdrop has meant, you know, it's been a disappointing past five years for the Strategy in terms of the performance we've delivered, both absolute and relative. And five years is really the timeframe we look to be judged against, so we haven't delivered performance like we'd expect or hope.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We've had that very strong period in the early stages of Covid in 2020 rolling off, and some of the environment and factors that I mentioned earlier, they have really overwhelmed stock picking during this period, and mainly those value and quality headwinds that I talked about.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And we haven't been idle during this period. We've been reflecting, we've been trying to learn lessons. And we've been adapting to what is quite a different environment today, than<strong> </strong>the strategy had five years ago and even 10 years ago. And we'll maybe come back to that when we talk about activity during the quarter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But focusing on recent performance for the year-to date-and last year, so last year absolute returns were very strong, but we lagged an exceptionally strong international market. And that really continued this quarter, and some of the drivers as well this quarter. So, international markets were broadly flat in the first quarter, but our portfolio underperformed. And the main driver of that weakness was the market’s repricing of perceived AI disruption risk that you highlighted, rather than actually the macroeconomic concerns.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, the portfolio's lack of exposure to the energy sector with what's been happening with the oil price and going on in the Middle East was a detractor, but it actually wasn't the dominant force behind our own performance. It was actually more about the sort of sharp sell-off we saw in software names, but also adjacent growth companies, that the market perceives or is worried that, may be vulnerable as AI changes workflows, economics and potentially competitive positioning.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But from our perspective, we do not believe this is a uniform story of decline across growth businesses. There's going to be a spectrum. Some companies will clearly face a more challenging environment, but others, we think, should prove more resilient and potentially emerge stronger. And actually, AI and integrating AI into their business and product offering can potentially increase their long-term value.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And we think some of the factors that our businesses have that provide that resilience are things like being deeply embedded in customer workflows. Think about the software that people use in their jobs day in, day out, things that they can't do their job without. Other areas are trust-critical infrastructure, so things, areas, like payments or anything that touches financial services, where there's- or money transfers, where there's complex processing, licensing, regulation, and fraud checks that all happen instantaneously in the background and have been quite difficult to replicate just using an AI agent on top. And then, other businesses that keep core systems of record, and they also store very proprietary data that is difficult to source from elsewhere.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, we think these are all essentially characteristics of some of the businesses we hold in the portfolio, but we think there will be a spectrum. Our process around these types of companies is, as you'd imagine, not to make any sort of knee-jerk reactions after sharp falls in the share price, continue to monitor the fundamentals of the business. It would be things like churn rates, customer turnover, pricing, margins, all the sort of usual thing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But also, we've been engaging over the last 12, 18 months with companies about their AI roadmap. We knew AI was going to potentially be a disruptive technology, and we've been speaking to management teams in our meetings over the past 12 months to see how they are investing, adopting and governing, and the companies they're partnering with, in order to integrate AI into their business and product offering.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, lots in there, but maybe just to provide an example of one of the key detractors during the quarter – that included Adyen, which is, it's a fintech, it's a financial services business, but it really provides a software stack that enables the processing of global payments. So, think about a company like Nike, Adyen provides the software that processes payments for Nike, both online and offline in stores.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And again, for merchants, their service is really important because it means, for them to generate sales, they need that transaction to go through seamlessly, and that's what Adyen does. This is really complex, trust-critical infrastructure they're providing. So, even as AI changes, the interface we use to buy goods and services, potentially, as automation comes in, you still need really robust and secure payment rails, essentially.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then when we look at the operational results of Adyen, it's continuing to grow very, very strongly – sort of 20, 25 percent growth, very high margins, very cash generative. But what it's doing is investing a lot in its business, probably higher over the past five years than the market expected. What that does is keeps margin flat in the short term, essentially, and the market typically doesn't like that, any pressure on short-term earnings. But we're very supportive of the company investing in the long-term of its business in terms of investing in its capabilities and potentially offering new products to its customers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>MC:</strong> Yeah, and it certainly feels like this is an opportunity. We like to invest in those companies that have deep moats and competitive advantages. It's great to see businesses like that continuing to invest and continuing to strengthen their position, but definitely one where the market is not valuing that to the same point as we do at this point. But hopefully in time, then, once fundamentals start to be rewarded again, the share price of Adyen and others will pick up again, absolutely.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I should just remind everyone, if you have questions, please use the Q&A function. I'm very happy for you to cover lots of ground here. I see on the slide there, Katie, there's numerous examples we've highlighted there, but is there anything else you'd like to pull out?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>KM:</strong> Yeah, so software, obviously, has been an area that that's hurt in share price terms more recently. And we're going through those businesses case-by-case, but broadly speaking, remain confident that they have those characteristics.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, on the other side, what's continued to be a really strong contributor to the portfolio's performance has been companies that are really enabling the AI buildout. That's on the left-hand side of this slide, what we're calling ‘beneficiaries’. So, the likes of ASML, TSMC that have been held for a long time that provide, are manufacturing the chips that are being used to power AI or providing the equipment that is essential for providing the most advanced, powerful chips.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And we have other names in the portfolio, and that's a very deliberate position for us in the portfolio, very high conviction across a number of holdings operating in that very critical supply chain. And one that is actually quite unique to the international opportunity set, which is, again, it's something we think it's hard for US investors to replicate just in the US markets.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then you'll see at the bottom of this slide, the other category we've been thinking about is companies that are broadly insulated from AI, where we don't think AI is going to materially impact them positively or negatively. So, demand for their products remains fairly constant and as we'd originally forecast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Examples there include luxury goods companies, like Hermès and Ferrari shown, but also some of our industrial manufacturing companies. and some of our healthcare companies as well – innovative biotechs, medical device companies, etc, where clearly demand is driven by the need for healthcare treatment and demographics, etc.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>MC:</strong> Well, you've touched on quite a highlight of the breadth of the portfolio, but I know that that's something that the team are continuing to think about.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps we should move on to recent activity, and if there's anything you'd like to pull out from that, that would be really helpful. Thank you.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>KM:</strong> Yeah, so, as you said, what we look for is companies with a large growth opportunity, strong competitive position, and management teams we trust to capitalise on the opportunity and also adapt as necessary as the operating environment around them changes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We think quite a lot of this large growth opportunity that many businesses have arises from some powerful structural trends, which we've shown on the next slide. So, the portfolio and how it's positioned today, we think, is very much aligned with some of these long-term megatrends, which include digitisation. And that includes the AI build-out, includes things like industrial efficiency and automation, innovation in healthcare, and also rising global consumption – so both affluent spending and emerging middle-class vendors around the world.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What we've tried to do with this slide is to show where we've been recycling capital from existing growth drivers into new exciting areas of growth. So, when you look at the portfolio as a whole, 50 percent of the portfolio has been held for more than five years, with 25 percent for more than 10 years. That's very much in line with our long-term philosophy, and we're deliberately patient with investments to allow fundamental growth to be reflected in share prices.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the past two years, what you can see is some of that adaption to the change of environment, and some of it is taking advantage of opportunity given that growth as a style and quality has been out of favour. So, we've been casting the net wide to bring new exciting drivers of growth, idiosyncratic drivers of growth, into the portfolio, and take advantage of what we think are a lot of opportunities out there in the market.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you look at the right-hand side, some of the newer areas over the past 12 months have been Galderma, which is a specialist business focused on dermatology treatments, both on the consumer side and on the pharma side. We added that earlier last year, and it's been a very strong contributor year-to-date.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We also, in the past year, added Keyence within industrial automation, [a] very high-quality business [that] provides sensors, vision systems that are used in factory automation. Which, again, is giving the portfolio exposure to another important structural trend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then more recently, in the last quarter, we've added a few other businesses, including Lonza, which is a contract manufacturing business for the pharma and biotech sector. So, it's one of three big players that essentially help pharma and biotech companies scale, do scale manufacturing of their treatments. It's a business that really specialises in biologic drug manufacturing, so some of the really complex modalities that it has manufacturing expertise in, and that's a strong part of its edge.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The nice thing about a business like Lonza is the pharma and biotech companies contract with it over long periods. And it's a very high-quality way to get exposure to, you know, the huge amount of research and development spend that's going on in healthcare without having to, sort of, bet on an individual drug being a blockbuster. So really, Lonza are going to benefit from those drugs and all that spend and then in the manufacturing of those drugs over the long term. So, we think that brings another new element to the portfolio in terms of exposure to the healthcare value chain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In terms of, maybe just to touch on how we've been funding some of that. So, as I said, semiconductors has been a real area of strength, both year-to-date but also the past few years and longer-term. We've been trimming, taking some profit after that strength in order to maintain a good balance across the portfolio and reinvest that in some of these new drivers of growth where we're seeing attractive opportunities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>MC:</strong> Great. And am I right in thinking the team and you’ve been in China recently, anything to highlight from that recent trip?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>KM:</strong> Yeah, sure. Yeah, I was in China with Julia, one of the other portfolio construction group members a couple of weeks ago. We were also with one of our private equity investment colleagues and a member of our Shanghai office, part of the China research team, as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was brilliant to get the chance to go back and see what's happening on the ground in China. And per this slide as well, you can see that a couple of the new names over the last few years have been in Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, so we think that's a really exciting area – not just domestically in China, but globally as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I guess that was the first thing that struck me when I arrived at Shanghai airport. I think the first thing I saw was an advert for Shanghai Disney celebrating its 10 years. So, [the] very much American symbol of Mickey Mouse is very popular in China. And then the next thing I saw was an advert for CATL, which is an electric battery maker, but also makes energy storage systems – increasingly important in this day and age, and we think potentially a huge growth area.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then, leaving the airport, just the sheer volume of EVs on the road. Lots of BYDs, you know, they have about 20 percent market share there, but also a raft of other both Western electric vehicles and Chinese brands, some that I'd never heard of.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And it's quite interesting to see just the impact, just chatting to colleagues when I was there. Ten years ago, one of the daily weather updates you used to get in China was about the level of pollution. My colleague Clark said growing up sort of north of Beijing, he couldn't see, you often couldn't see the car in front of you because of the pollution from steel manufacturing, etc. The air is so much better than it was, and that's been the result of that deliberate government policy to build the EV industry. And it's now rare in Shanghai to see a blue number plate, which represents the petrol cars on the street.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think the other thing that was quite interesting is, as soon as you arrive in China, I had to download Tencent's app, WeChat. Tencent's held in the portfolio, and through that you generate a QR code and that is how you pay for everything. So it again demonstrates just how core a part of the ecosystem in Chinese commerce Tencent, and Tencent's WeChat, is.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In terms of what did we cover in the eight days, we spent time in Shanghai, Beijing, seeing some existing holdings, but also a lot of new ideas, and met with about a dozen or so companies across areas like AI, autonomous driving – I had some test drives in some of the robotaxis. And then other areas like robotics, biologics and enterprise software, so a real broad spectrum.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I think some of the themes that came out were around, you know, the international ambitions of a lot of the companies, particularly on the autonomous driving side. Some of these companies are very much up and running, operational in other parts of Asia already, not just China, but also operating in the Middle East and increasingly into Europe, as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, I think probably when we went to China 10 years ago, a lot of it was focused on just the domestic opportunity, which is huge, but actually a lot of these businesses have already, not just ambitions, but already [are] growing established businesses outside of China as well.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>MC:</strong> Yeah, I think that intra-EM trade, in particular, is just something that's going to be growing year-on-year. So yeah, that's great. I think it's really helpful to gain those insights, so thank you for sharing those.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You touched on a lot of different types of industries and countries more broadly in this conversation so far, but maybe just touch on positioning: how is the portfolio positioned just now, and how are you and the team thinking about that as we look forward?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>KM:</strong> I think the final slide we've got is probably what gives us the most confidence about the portfolio's positioning today, and its ability to deliver attractive investment returns as we look forward.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, not shown on this slide, but as a backdrop: underlying operational execution of individual holdings in the portfolio – so fundamentals, which is what we're focused on – they remain very, very strong. And in many cases, what we're seeing at the individual company level is these companies are the cheapest they've been for some time, so we think valuations look very, very attractive, and you can see that coming through at the portfolio level, too.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the aggregate level, you've got growth well ahead of the benchmark on the far right. You've got superior levels of profitability and returns. And our companies have don't rely on financial leverage, they're self-funding their growth through cash generation, so the rising interest rates and a lack of access to capital isn't an issue for the companies in our portfolio. That makes them very resilient.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then on the right, there's a modest valuation premium. We're prepared to pay that for superior growth and quality, but actually, the level of the premium today is probably the lowest it's been in the past 11 years for the portfolio. So we think this is a really exciting and attractive starting point for returns from here to be driven by that fundamental performance of the underlying holdings instead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>MC:</strong> Cool, thank you, Katie. And I think that's probably a great place to end, it's just that enthusiasm. It has definitely been a tricky period over the last five, six years, and the portfolio has certainly adapted to the market conditions that we're in.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For a portfolio that's been around over 20 years, that is just part and parcel of managing assets. So, I think it's great to see that diversification growth ideas in the portfolio, and certainly a very compelling story as to why we think we can see attractive returns from here.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So thank you, Katie, always great to hear your thoughts. And thank you, everyone, for joining us. By the time we speak again at the next quarter, we should have our range of active ETFs up and running, so we'll keep you updated there.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But from Katie and me this morning, thank you very much and thanks for joining us. Have a good day.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>International Growth</h3>
<p><strong>Annual past performance to 31 March each year (%)</strong></p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; border-width: 0px; height: 74.0001px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 18.6667px;">
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px;"> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;"><strong>2022</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;"><strong>2023</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;"><strong>2024</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;"><strong>2025</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;"><strong>2026</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18px;">
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18px;">International Growth Composite (gross)</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18px; text-align: right;">-26.7</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18px; text-align: right;">-7.2</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18px; text-align: right;">6.3</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18px; text-align: right;">2.5</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18px; text-align: right;">7.7</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18.6667px;">
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px;">International Growth Composite (net)</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">-27.2</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">-7.8</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">5.7</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">1.9</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">7.1</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18.6667px;">
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px;">MSCI ACWI ex US Index</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">-1.0</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">-4.6</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">13.8</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">6.6</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; text-align: right;">25.6</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong>Annualised returns to 31 March 2026 (%)</strong></p>
<table border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; border-width: 0px; height: 93.0001px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 37px;">
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 37px; width: 61.3387%;"> </td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 37px; width: 13.1043%; text-align: right;"><strong>1 year</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 37px; width: 12.713%; text-align: right;"><strong>5 years</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 1px 1px 2px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(204, 204, 204) rgb(0, 0, 0); border-image: initial; padding: 10px; height: 37px; width: 12.844%; text-align: right;"><strong>10 years</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18.6667px;">
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 61.3387%;">International Growth Composite (gross)</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 13.1043%; text-align: right;">7.7</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 12.713%; text-align: right;">-4.4</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 12.844%; text-align: right;">8.6</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18.6667px;">
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 61.3387%;">International Growth Composite (net)</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 13.1043%; text-align: right;">7.1</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 12.713%; text-align: right;">-5.0</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 12.844%; text-align: right;">7.9</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 18.6667px;">
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 61.3387%;">MSCI ACWI ex US Index*</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 13.1043%; text-align: right;">25.6</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 12.713%; text-align: right;">7.6</td>
<td style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 10px; height: 18.6667px; width: 12.844%; text-align: right;">8.8</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><span class="source-text">*MSCI EAFE Index prior to 30 September 2018</span></p>
<p><span class="source-text"><strong>Source: </strong>Revolution, MSCI. US dollars. Net returns have been calculated by reducing the gross return by the highest annual management fee for the composite. 1 year figures are not annualised.</span></p>
<p><strong>Past performance is not a guide to future returns.</strong></p>
<p><span class="source-text">Legal notice: MSCI makes no express or implied warranties or representations and shall have no liability whatsoever with respect to any MSCI data contained herein. The MSCI data may not be further redistributed or used as a basis for other indexes or any securities or financial products. This report is not approved, endorsed, reviewed or produced by MSCI. None of the MSCI data is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such.</span></p>
<h3>Risk factors</h3>
<p>This communication was produced and approved in April 2026 and has not been updated subsequently. It represents views held at the time and may not reflect current thinking.</p>
<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 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 & Co and is current unless otherwise stated. </p>
<p>The images used in this communication are for illustrative purposes only.</p>
<h3>Important information</h3>
<p>Baillie Gifford & Co and Baillie Gifford & Co Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Baillie Gifford & Co Limited is an Authorised Corporate Director of OEICs.</p>
<p>Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited provides investment management and advisory services to non-UK Professional/Institutional clients only. Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited is wholly owned by Baillie Gifford & Co. Baillie Gifford & Co and Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited are authorised and regulated by the FCA in the UK. </p>
<p>Persons resident or domiciled outside the UK should consult with their professional advisers as to whether they require any governmental or other consents in order to enable them to invest, and with their tax advisers for advice relevant to their own particular circumstances.</p>
<p><strong>Financial intermediaries</strong></p>
<p>This communication is suitable for use of financial intermediaries. Financial intermediaries are solely responsible for any further distribution and Baillie Gifford takes no responsibility for the reliance on this document by any other person who did not receive this document directly from Baillie Gifford.</p>
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