The company’s shares have been admitted to the premium listing segment of the official list of the UK Listing Authority London Stock Exchange (LSE) and is expected to begin trading on 23 March 2018.
The trust, which seeks to produce long-term capital growth by investing in “exceptional growth companies” in the US, is the first such vehicle the asset manager has launched in over three decades.
The company will invest in both listed and unlisted companies to form a portfolio with a maximum of 90 holdings, 30 to 50 of which are quoted businesses. The firm has stated that the maximum amount invested in unlisted securities will not exceed 50% of total assets.
Gary Robinson (pictured) and fellow members of the Baillie Gifford US equities team, Helen Xiong and Andrei Kiselev, have been selected to manage the trust.
The US Growth trust joins the ranks of Baillie Gifford’s popular line-up of trusts, including the £6.5bn Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, launched in 1909, and its Scottish American Investment Company (Saints), which has been around since 1873.
“This is Baillie Gifford’s first investment trust launch since 1985,” said Andrew Telfer, joint senior partner of the fund group. “Our proven ability in actively managing US equities and our growing expertise in providing access to a range of exciting private companies should make this new trust a highly attractive investment proposition.”
Shares will be made available to investors by way of a placing and offer for subscription. Private investors will also be able to purchase shares in the trust on major direct to consumer platforms like Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and Alliance Trust Savings.
The manager also expects to receive applications for shares from its own staff members and portfolio managers totalling roughly £20m.
The offer for subscription, including the intermediaries offer for private investors, will close at 3pm on 19 March 2018, with placing closing at 3pm the next day.
Baillie Gifford unveils 18% pay gap
In a separate announcement, Baillie Gifford also revealed that it pays its male employees 18% more on average than its female staff per hour, as firms scramble to submit data as part of new regulation on disclosing gender pay gaps.
Compared with the handful of asset managers that have revealed their remuneration discrepancies, the Scottish fund manager’s pay gap falls on the lower-end of the spectrum. So far, Standard Life has reported the biggest difference between male and female pay, with women earning 42% less than men on average.
The data also revealed that men received bonuses that were 25% higher than their female counterparts on average in 2017.
Commenting on the figures, the manager said: “The under-representation of women in senior positions is an issue that we take seriously. This has been improving, reflecting the efforts that we have already put in place to appeal to a wider range of employees.”
