- Volatility is part of Baillie Gifford’s strategy, but has reached extreme levels in the past three years
- The asset manager is sticking to its long-term investment approach
- The tide may eventually turn but a lot hinges on economic factors
If the past couple of years have hardly been a walk in the park for most managers, arguably no investment firm has felt the shift in the environment quite as keenly as Baillie Gifford. A favourite among investors in the era of 'free money’, it is now facing a much less favourable economic environment. Most of its investment funds are underperforming, there is an ongoing debate over its unlisted companies valuations (‘It could be time to buy back into Scottish Mortgage’, IC, 31 May 2023) and earlier this month the firm even managed to get into a spat with climate change activist Greta Thunberg over its fossil fuel investments.
As interest rate peaks approach, there is hope that the bottom could be near – but it could still be a while before Baillie Gifford funds start to outperform again.