Edinburgh Worldwide gets new deputy managers – Following discussion between the board and managers, Edinburgh Worldwide has announced the appointment of Svetlana Viteva and Luke Ward as deputy portfolio managers with immediate effect. Svetlana and Luke are part of Baillie Gifford’s Global Discovery investment team which is headed by Douglas Brodie, the manager of Edinburgh Worldwide. This development reflects their close involvement in the management of Edinburgh Worldwide and Baillie Gifford’s team-based approach to managing portfolios. John MacDougall is standing down as deputy portfolio manager with immediate effect due to increased responsibilities on Baillie Gifford’s Long Term Global Growth desk. The Board is supportive of this and would like to thank him for his contributions to the success of the company.
Svetlana graduated BA in Economics and BA in Business Administration from the American University in Bulgaria in 2008, MSc in Investment Analysis from Stirling University in 2009 and PhD in Accounting and Finance from Stirling University in 2012. Svetlana joined Baillie Gifford in 2012 and is an Investment Manager in the Global Discovery Team. She is a CFA Charterholder.
Luke graduated MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Luke joined Baillie Gifford in 2012 and is an Investment Manager in the Global Discovery Team.
Impressive results
Separately, Edinburgh Worldwide has released its results for the year ended 31 October 2017. The highlights are:
- Over the year to 31 October 2017, the company’s net asset value per share, cum income with debt at fair value, increased by 31.6% and the share price by 43.0%. The comparative index, the S&P Global Small Cap Index, increased by 13.4% in sterling terms.
- The revenue account for 2017 is running at a deficit after the deduction of operating expenses, so once again no final dividend is being paid. The company’s objective remains that of generating capital growth. Should the level of underlying income increase in future years, the board will seek to distribute the minimum permissible to maintain investment trust status.
- A number of the company’s holdings contributed to the positive performance, notably: Alnylam Pharmaceutical, a gene silencing company; LendingTree, an online loan marketplace; and IPG Photonics, a manufacturer of fibre-lasers used in metal processing. 4D Pharma, a company harnessing bacteria for medicine, was the notable detractor to performance.
- As at the year end, the company held three unlisted equity investments: Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Unity Biotechnology and Spire Global accounting for 2.1% of total assets (2016 – 2.8% of total assets in four holdings).
EWI : Edinburgh Worldwide gets new deputy managers