BAILLIE GIFFORD WORLDWIDE LONG TERM GLOBAL GROWTH FUND
- Raging Bull Award for Best (FSCA-Approved) Offshore Global Equity Fund (straight performance over three years to December 31, 2021)
The UK-based investment house Baillie Gifford was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1908. As of September last year it had just under half a trillion dollars of assets under management.
The company has seven worldwide funds that are marketed in South Africa by Sanlam Collective Investments. Of these, the Worldwide Long Term Global Growth Fund has won an award for its outstanding performance over three years: 41% a year, on average, over that period, which is almost double its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, which delivered 21.2% annualised.
While the short-term surge is welcomed, the fund essentially aims to deliver superior long-term returns for investors by investing in companies that are in the high-growth phase of their development. The portfolio contained only 37 stocks in December. The top five holdings were: Amazon (5.6%), Nvidia (5.5%), Tesla (5.2%), ASML (4.5%) and Moderna (4.2%).
In the fact sheet, the two managers of the fund, Mark Urquhart and Tom Slater, say: “Long Term Global Growth is a purely stock-driven, unconstrained global equity strategy focused on investing in exceptional growth companies from around the world. The approach is committed and expressly long-term because we believe that investing in companies with the scope to grow to multiples of their current size over the next decade has the potential to transform the returns achieved for investors over time.
“Portfolio holding sizes are based purely on our view of the magnitude of the potential upside and our associated level of conviction. The turnover in the portfolio is low, reflecting our long-term perspective and resistance to trading on short-term news-flow.”
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