BAILLIE GIFFORD GLOBAL DISCOVERY B

Investment Process

The fund focuses on small-cap companies because of their upside potential when it comes to profit and ultimately share price growth. The management team’s bottom-up investment process looks for a number of key traits: the company must be focused on solving a large-scale or global problem and through doing this they must be developing a defensive competitive edge; the management team should have the skill and vision to achieve this, and be looking to scale the business with a similar time horizon to the fund managers. They also seek out companies that are using innovation and sometimes disruptive technology to react quickly and nimbly to market changes, such as an ageing population or environmental issues. They have an emphasis on companies operating in industries with potential for structural change and innovation. The team considers around 500 stocks per year, of which between 10 and 15 make it into the portfolio after a process of peer review and debate. The portfolio consists of between 75 and 150 stocks, with typical holding sizes of between 0.5% and 3% depending on risk. It has a sector bias towards information technology and healthcare.