Baillie Gifford rebrands bond fund as manager exits

Baillie Gifford will rebrand its top-quartile Corporate Bond fund as the Strategic Bond fund after the retirement Stephen Rodgers, who departs this month.

Baillie Gifford rebrands bond fund as manager exits

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The name change will be effective from 1 May and is intended to more accurately reflect the investment approach of the £715.5m fund, which is in the Investment Association’s Sterling Strategic Bond sector.

It currently invests globally in investment grade, high yield, corporate and government bonds.

In January, Lesley Dunn (pictured) was appointed co-manager of the fund alongside Torcail Stewart.

Stewart said the fund has followed the same investment philosophy since its launch in 1999.

“This will not change. The name more accurately reflects our strategic approach to asset allocation and bond selection and, under the banner of the Baillie Gifford Strategic Bond fund, we hope our clients will continue to benefit from the attractive proposition of top-quartile performance delivered with a bottom-quartile fee,” Stewart said.

The fund has returned 4.3% over the last year compared to 2.4% in the sector. Over three years it has returned 14.3% to the sector’s 8.8%.

It has an ongoing charge of 0.52% for class B income shares.

Speaking to Portfolio Adviser shortly after her appointment, Dunn said she was confident it could continue to deliver top-quartile performance despite Rodgers’ exit and in a rising interest rate environment.

Dunn used to work on the High Yield Bond fund with Donald Phillips, who has also departed Baillie Gifford. He joins ex-colleagues David Roberts and Philip Milburn to start a fixed income team at Liontrust.

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