MacDougall has been manager of the trust for eight years. He will move to the global equities team within Baillie Gifford. The trust is the top-performing Japan-focused investment trust over five years, having returned 213.5% (source: Financial Express, to 30 October). The average for the Japan and Japanese Smaller Companies sectors is 123.1%.
Kumar has been at Baillie Gifford since 2008 and a member of the Japanese team since 2011. He has a background in computer science. He has BEng in Computer Science from Bangalore University and an MBA from Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He previously worked for FKI Logistex prior to joining Baillie Gifford.
The trust tends to focus on smaller, entrepreneurial, owner-founder businesses, with ‘disruptive’ technologies. In recent years, it has invested heavily in robotics, for example. Baillie Gifford said Kumar will continue to be supported by Baillie Gifford’s Japanese equities team, which currently comprises five investment managers and three analysts.
