Baillie Gifford is set to shutter its international fixed income business, instead focusing future growth efforts on its UK client base.
The firm is also preparing a round of job cuts which could see dozens of employees exit as part of an ongoing cost review, as reported by Bloomberg.
Three funds from its Irish UCITS range will close, the Worldwide Global Strategic Bond fund, Worldwide European High Yield fund and Worldwide Sustainable Emerging Markets Debt fund, while the UK OEIC Emerging Markets Bond fund will also shutter.
See also: Abrdn confirms 500 redundancies in cost-cutting ‘transformation plan’ amid £12.4bn outflows
Each of the funds have less than £50m of external client assets, though they also manage fixed income assets on behalf of Baillie Gifford’s multi-asset and balanced funds.
A Baillie Gifford spokesperson said: “Following a review of our fixed income strategies and funds, we have decided to focus on supporting and growing our fixed income business exclusively in the UK market. We have taken the decision to close four funds where only a small number of clients are invested.
“As part of our regular business planning, we consider how to reduce our expenditure. However, our partnership structure ensures we can continue to invest in growing areas of the business while pursuing excellent long-term returns for our clients.”
The firm’s total AUM was £225.6bn at the end of 2023.
The planned redundancies follow fellow Scotland-based asset manager Abrdn’s announcement this morning that it plans to cut up to 10% of its workforce.
