Baillie Gifford Japanese

One of the oldest Japan funds in the sector, Baillie Gifford Japanese has delivered outstanding returns in the most difficult market conditions. The fund is managed by a large team, based in Edinburgh, and invests in growing Japanese businesses that deliver consistently strong returns to shareholders.

Our opinion

Baillie Gifford has a very strong Japanese equity team. This is a well-managed portfolio with a clear investment strategy, which offers complementary exposure to those funds that are focused more on the value of a company rather than its growth prospects. Baillie Gifford Japanese has been one of the most consistent funds in its sector and has proven itself in many different market environments.

Fund manager

The investment manager of the Baillie Gifford Japanese fund is Matthew Brett. Having co-managed the fund since November 2007, he took the lead role in May 2018. Matthew joined Baillie Gifford in 2003 after achieving a BA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in Psychology from Bristol University. Matthew has the support of the Japanese equities team which is responsible for researching companies and generating new ideas.

We are growth-orientated, stock-picking managers.

Matthew BrettFund manager

Investment process

Baillie Gifford Japanese seeks to invest in well-managed businesses with a strong competitive advantage that are not overpriced. The research process is designed to ensure the best ideas of each individual team member are included in the portfolio. It is built around five specific factors: a company’s competitive advantage, industry, financial strength, how well it is run and its valuation. These are discussed amongst the team with Matthew having the final say on what is added to the portfolio. Being growth investors, the team have a natural bias towards medium-sized companies.

Risk

Investing in Japan can be volatile, although its stock market movements are often less correlated to developed equity markets, so can act as a diversifier. The emphasis on structural change within the portfolio should benefit from the government’s current economic strategy. The process seeks out growth-orientated companies, which can underperform should this style of investing fall out of favour.

See more

Read more about this fund

The information, data, analyses, and opinions contained herein (1) include the proprietary information of FundCalibre, (2) may not be copied or redistributed without prior permission, (3) do not constitute investment advice offered by FundCalibre, (4) are provided solely for informational purposes and therefore are not an offer to buy or sell a fund, and (5) are not warranted to be correct, complete, or accurate. FundCalibre shall not be responsible for any trading decisions, damages, or other losses resulting from, or related to, this information, data, analyses, or opinions or their use. The Elite Fund rating is subjective in nature and reflects FundCalibre’s current expectations of future events/behaviour as they relate to a particular fund. Because such events/behaviour may turn out to be different than expected, FundCalibre does not guarantee that a fund will perform in line with its FundCalibre benchmark. Likewise, the Elite Fund rating should not be seen as any sort of guarantee or assessment of the creditworthiness of a fund nor of its underlying securities and should not be used as the sole basis for making any investment decision. FundCalibre disclaims any responsibility for trading decisions, damages or other losses resulting from any use of the Elite Fund rating. All performance data, as well as fund size, OCF, AMC, annual income (historic), share price discount or premium, is sourced directly from FE Analytics, and will change periodically.