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Scottish Mortgage manager James Anderson to retire

Scottish Mortgage - Lawrence Burns SMT

Scottish Mortgage has announced that, after nearly four decades at Baillie Gifford, James Anderson will retire from the Baillie Gifford partnership on 30 April 2022 and will, accordingly, step down as joint portfolio manager of Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC on that date. Tom Slater will continue as lead portfolio manager when James retires and Lawrence Burns, who is also a partner at Baillie Gifford, will become deputy portfolio manager with immediate effect.

About James Anderson

James joined Baillie Gifford in 1983 and became a partner four years later. He has been the portfolio manager of the Company since 2000 and, since 2015, joint portfolio manager with fellow partner Tom Slater. Tom will continue as lead portfolio manager when James retires and Lawrence Burns (pictured), who is also a partner at Baillie Gifford, will become deputy portfolio manager with immediate effect.

Taking up a board position at Kinnevik

Separately, it has been announced that, on 29 April 2021, James Anderson will be nominated to stand for non-executive chairman of the Swedish investment company Kinnevik AB, a company quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange which is currently held in Scottish Mortgage’s portfolio. If appointed, James would recuse himself from any investment discussions and decisions about the Company’s holding in Kinnevik and its underlying investments while he remains joint portfolio manager of the Company.

Comments from Fiona McBain, chair of Scottish Mortgage

“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.”

[QD comment: While at a first glance, this could be a little unsettling for shareholders, Baillie Gifford has a very strong firmwide culture and Scottish Mortgage is well understood within the company. We think there will be little in the way of issues with continuity, and wish Lawrence all the best in his new role.]

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