Founded in Edinburgh in 1908 to manage the assets of a closed-end mutual fund, the Straits Mortgage & Trust Company (now Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, and still a Baillie Gifford client). In over 110 years, Baillie Gifford has become one of the United Kingdom's largest independent investment management firms, currently investing US$467 billion (as at September 2021) on behalf of a diversified global client base, remaining a privately-owned partnership throughout.
The absence of outside shareholders is a crucial foundation which naturally aligns Baillie Gifford's interests with the best long-term interests of their clients and creates stability amongst key personnel, who typically work at Baillie Gifford for decades.
The Global Quality Growth fund, which Baillie Gifford managed for AIA, aims to generate superior returns by investing sustainably, focusing on ESG opportunities rather than simply ESG risks. The key features of its investment approach are:
- Long Term: Portfolio turnover is typically less than 20% per annum. This ensures a mindset of ownership rather than speculation.
- Active: Overlap with the index is typically less than 10%. In order to outperform the market you must be sufficiently different from the market.
- Growth: Share prices ultimately follow strong company fundamentals. Baillie Gifford looks for businesses that are driving change and delivering above average earnings growth as a result.
