Baillie Gifford: 15 investments you’ve never heard of
26th August 2021 11:28
by Nina Kelly from interactive investor
We explore some popular funds and an investment trust at a granular level.
Baillie Gifford is a popular choice of asset manager among interactive investor’s customers. Every month, several of its funds appear in our most-bought lists of funds and trusts on the platform.
Yet, while Scottish Mortgage (LSE:SMT) investment trust or Baillie Gifford American may well be part of your portfolio, and holdings such as Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) are familiar names, what about some of their other investments?
Below, we list 15 current holdings across Baillie Gifford funds and investments trusts that investors may not recognise, including some companies that are currently unlisted.
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Scottish Mortgage
Recursion Pharmaceuticals: this biotechnology business with a 70ft climbing wall in its Salt Lake City office, was founded in 2013 and listed on the Nasdaq in April. In an interview this month, Scottish Mortgage co-manager James Anderson explained that Recursion (NASDAQ:RXRX) is “using machine learning to identify new drugs”.
Epic Games: founded in 1991, this isthe US company behind global video game sensation Fortnite. interactive investor’s ETF expert Tom Bailey recently cited figures from Statista, which said that in 2020 worldwide PC gaming revenues totalled almost $37 billion (£26 billion), while the mobile gaming market generated an estimated revenue of more than $77 billion.
Stripe: San Francisco-based digital payments company founded by Irish college dropout brothers John and Patrick Collison. According to Stripe’s website, “millions of companies in over 120 countries use Stripe to start, run and scale their businesses”, including Amazon, Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), Uber (NYSE:UBER), DiDi (NYSE:DIDI), Zillow (NASDAQ:Z) and Deliveroo (LSE:ROO). Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney was recently appointed to its board of directors. Our stocks writer Graeme Evans recently named Stripe as one of seven IPOs to watch out for in 2021.
Northvolt: the unlisted company’s mission is to “make the world’s greenest battery to enable the European transition to renewable energy”. In March, car manufacturer Volkswagen placed a $14 billion battery cell order with Northvolt which is headquartered in Sweden.
ByteDance: the Chinese tech giant responsible for short-video app TikTok, among others. There have been reports of a potential Hong Kong listing for the Beijing-based start-up next year.
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery
Upwork: the US company describes itself as “the world’s work marketplace”. It connects businesses with freelancers in areas such as consulting and website and app development, and says it “serves everyone from one-person start-ups to 30% of the Fortune 100”. Trending skills on the Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) website at the time of writing include: ‘blockchain’, ‘videography’ and ‘project management’.
STAAR Surgical: this healthcare company manufactures implantable lens for the eye, including some that are used in cataract surgery. The American firm says that its lenses are “intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses”. In its second-quarter results, published on 4 August, Staar Surgical (NASDAQ:STAA) says that net sales were $62.4 million for Q2, up 77% compared to $35.2 million in the prior year quarter. Its share price has tripled in the past year.
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Baillie Gifford Positive Change
Dexcom: designs glucose monitoring systems for diabetics. DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM) data is available via a compatible Apple or Android smart device.
Umicore: a European firm that is a global materials technology and recycling group. A world leader in cobalt products, Umicore (EURONEXT:UMI) sources only ethical cobalt, which is a key component in rechargeable batteries for electric cars.
Baillie Gifford American
Twilio: this cloud-based communications specialist gives customers the ability to add messaging, voice, and video in their web and mobile apps. In its second-quarter results, published on 29 July, in which Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) reported revenue of $668.9 million, up 67% year-over-year, co-founder and CEO Jeff Lawson said: “Companies across industries are adopting our platform to drive better, more personalised levels of customer engagement, and we remain convinced that we are in the midst of a massive shift that is driving a generational opportunity for Twilio.”.
Roku: streaming platform in the US, and a pandemic ‘winner’. The California-based company’s name means “six” in Japanese and Roku (NASDAQ:ROKU) was the sixth business British-born founder Anthony Wood started.
Baillie Gifford Managed
Zalando: German e-commerce business and Europe’s biggest pure-play online fashion platform. The retailer has more than 2,000 brands for men, women and children and Zalando (XETRA:ZAL) stocks high street, high-end and indie labels.
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Baillie Gifford China
Li Ning: a Chinese sportswear company headquartered in Beijing and founded in 1990 by the eponymous former Olympic gymnast with 106 gold medals to his name. In a company statement this month, Li Ning, the executive chairman and joint CEO, said the aim was to “develop Li Ning (SEHK:2331) from a Chinese brand to an internationally recognised top-class global, fashionable and professional sports brand”.
WuXi AppTec: this Shanghai-headquarteredfirm provides a portfolio of “R&D and drug manufacturing services that support over 5,200 collaborative partners worldwide” and enables “companies in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries worldwide to advance discoveries and deliver ground-breaking treatments to patients”. Wuxi AppTec (SEHK:2359) delisted in New York in 2015 and is now listed in China.
Baillie Gifford Pacific
Vedanta: India-focused mining group with operations across the subcontinent, as well as countries including South Africa and Australia. It focuses on areas including oil and gas, aluminium, copper and iron ore. Vedanta (NYSE:VEDL) was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 index until chairman Anil Agarwal’s offer to take the company private went unconditional in September 2018. Vedanta is currently listed on the NYSE.
All holdings correct as of 31 July 2021.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
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