James Anderson will retire from Ballie Gifford next year after almost four decades and step down as joint manager of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust.
Anderson, who joined Baillie Gifford in 1983, was appointed portfolio manager of Scottish Mortgage in 2000. Over this time, the trust has made a total return of 1,529.91 per cent – making it the best performing member of the IT Global sector.
He will leave Baillie Gifford on 30 April 2022. Co-manager Tom Slater will then become lead manager on Scottish Mortgage with Lawrence Burns becoming deputy portfolio manager.
Fiona McBain, chair of Scottish Mortgage, said: “James's approach of identifying and holding transformational growth companies has helped drive economic progress and delivered exceptional returns for shareholders. He has also pioneered our investments in private companies, one of the trust's most important strategic initiatives to date.
“James and Tom constantly seek to observe, learn and improve. This has resulted in an investment philosophy that will continue to evolve. I and my fellow directors look forward to working with James, Tom and Lawrence over the coming year, and with Tom and Lawrence after that.”
Performance of Scottish Mortgage vs sector under Anderson
Source: FE Analytics
Ryan Hughes, head of active portfolios at AJ Bell, said the news of Anderson’s retirement will potentially worry the thousands of investors who hold Scottish Mortgage, which is the UK’s biggest investment trust. However, he pointed to Baillie Gifford’s team-based approach, longstanding investment process and the experience of Slater as reasons for confidence.
“Anderson has helped build Scottish Mortgage into a phenomenal investment trust over many years with his clear, high conviction approach being a driving force behind its willingness to invest in early stage companies and hold them while they become global winners with Amazon, Tesla and Alibaba all being great examples,” Hughes added.
“For investors, while this announcement may be unsettling, the strength of the team-based approach, long handover period and continuity through Tom Slater shouldn’t result in major concerns. Slater has worked at Baillie Gifford for over 20 years and been a manager on the trust for the last 10 years ensuring that he knows the portfolio inside out. As a result, I expect no change to the approach which should hopefully give investors reassurance that the investment process will remain intact.”