1. Defensive Growth Fund

  2. Overview

    The Fund aims to achieve, after deduction of costs, an annualised return over rolling five-year periods that is 3.5% more than the UK Base Rate; a positive return over rolling three-year periods; and annualised volatility of returns over rolling five-year periods that is below 10%*. The Fund also aims to have a weighted average greenhouse gas emissions intensity that is lower than that of the Fund's stated carbon budget. The carbon budget is set in absolute terms and will decrease at a steady annual rate of 7% per annum. Defensive Growth's carbon budget for the period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 is 71.5 tCO2e/USD million EVIC. Both the budget and the portfolio saw a step-up in carbon footprint at the end of the year, in line with the EU Technical Expert Group guidance for the phasing-in of Scope 3 emissions for a wider range of economic activities.

    *The manager believes this is an appropriate benchmark given the investment policy of the Fund and the approach taken by the manager when investing.

    Performance & Portfolio

    Periodic performance

    All figures to 30/11/2024

    6 Months

    1 Year

    3 Years

    Since Inception

    Class B-Acc 4.5%10.2%n/a2.1%
    Index* 2.5%5.2%n/a4.2%
    Target Benchmark** 4.3%8.7%n/a7.7%

     

     



    Annual discrete performance 30 September each year

    Annual percentage return (Updated Quarterly)

    30/09/2019
    30/09/2020

    30/09/2020
    30/09/2021

    30/09/2021
    30/09/2022

    30/09/2022
    30/09/2023

    30/09/2023
    30/09/2024

    Class B-Acc n/an/an/a1.6%13.4%
    Index* n/an/an/a4.2%5.5%
    Target Benchmark** n/an/an/a7.6%8.8%
    Sector Average*** n/an/an/a3.4%8.3%

    Source: FE, Revolution. Total return net of charges, in sterling.

    Share class returns calculated using 10am prices, while the Index is calculated close-to-close.

    Figures for 3 years and Since Inception are shown as the annualised rate of return. This is the average yearly return over the specified period.

    Share Class Inception Date: 20 May 2022.

    *UK Base Rate.

    **UK Base Rate +3.5%.

    Top ten holdings 30/11/2024

    Fund %
    1 Australia 4.25% (Green Bond) 21/06/2034 5.0%
    2 Blackrock GBP LEAF Fund 4.7%
    3 Citi/BG EM Equity ETN 4.3%
    4 Leadenhall UCITS ILS Fund 3.3%
    5 Baillie Gifford Responsible Global Equity Income Fund 2.9%
    6 3i Infrastructure 2.7%
    7 Baillie Gifford Positive Change Fund 2.7%
    8 Galene Fund 2.6%
    9 Aegon ABS Opportunity Fund Acc 2.5%
    10 Citi/BG Value Equity ETN 2.1%
    Total 32.8%
    Asset allocation 30/11/2024

    Fund %

    • 1 Infrastructure 21.32
    • 2 Listed Equities 17.01
    • 3 Emerging Market Bonds 15.66
    • 4 Insurance Linked 9.23
    • 5 Cash and Equivalents 8.72
    • 6 Structured Finance 8.23
    • 7 Property 7.44
    • 8 Government Bonds 5.01
    • 9 Commodities 4.59
    • 10 High Yield Credit 3.76
    • 11 Special Opportunities -0.90
    • 12 Active Rates and Currency -27.86
    • Total 72.21

    As the Fund invests in overseas securities, changes in the rates of exchange may cause the value of your investment (and any income it may pay) to go down or up.

    A negative cash position may sometimes occur due to obligations awaiting settlement. Futures positions are included at their net exposure weight, and cash includes collateral held to back all long futures positions. Therefore, total portfolio exposure may not sum to 100%.

    The information contained on this page is intended as a guide only and should not be relied upon when making investment decisions. Source Baillie Gifford & Co.

    Please note that totals may not sum due to rounding.

    Insights

    No insights available.

    Meet the Managers

    Scott Lothian

    Scott is an investment manager in the Multi Asset Team. He joined Baillie Gifford in 2015. Prior to joining the firm, he worked as a Solutions Strategist for Schroders in London, led a multi-manager team for BEA Union in Hong Kong, and was a senior investment consultant at Towers Watson. Scott is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and graduated BSc (Hons) in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics from Heriot-Watt University in 1999.

    James Squires

    James is head of the Multi Asset Team and chairs our Multi Asset and Income Leadership Group. He became a partner in 2018. James joined Baillie Gifford in 2006, initially working in our North American Equity and Fixed Income teams. He has been a CFA Charterholder since 2010 and graduated BA in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Oxford in 2005.

    Felix Amoako-Kwarteng

    Felix joined Baillie Gifford in 2011 and is an investment manager in the Multi Asset Team. He is a CFA Charterholder. Felix graduated BComm in Accounting from University of Cape Coast, Ghana, in 2008 and MSc in Investment Analysis from the University of Stirling in 2010.

    Nicoleta Dumitru

    Nicoleta is an investment manager in the Multi Asset Team and part of the Sustainable Income and Multi Asset Income Portfolio Construction Group. She joined Baillie Gifford in 2013 after graduating BSc (Hons) in Management and Marketing from the University of Manchester that same year.

    Documents

    You can access any literature about the Fund here, either by downloading or requesting a copy by post (where available).

    To download any document you will need Adobe Reader. Please note that we can now provide you with Braille and audio transcriptions of our literature on request. It may take up to 10 days for the transcription to be completed dependent on the size of the document.

    Philosophy and process documents

    Quarterly investor reports

    Sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR)

    Complaints

    In the first instance, clients should contact their normal Client Contact with any concerns. Alternatively, or for those clients who do not have a direct client contact assigned, complaints can be emailed to Baillie Gifford’s Compliance Department at: InstitutionalComplaints@bailliegifford.com. A summary document which contains details on Baillie Gifford’s complaints management policy is available upon request. All material complaints are recorded in an in-house incident management system and are escalated to, and dealt with by, members of staff of suitable seniority, independent of the area from which the matter arose.