Edinburgh investment giant Baillie Gifford announced that it has created a dedicated China equities investment team “to better serve existing and potential clients.”
Linda Lin, a partner at the firm, has returned to Edinburgh from Shanghai to head the team.
The 10-strong team will include Lin, Sophie Earnshaw and John MacDougall in Edinburgh, as well as Shanghai office members Rio Tu, Louise Lin, Tony Wang, Freddy Zhu, Clark Ren, Doris Gu and ESG analyst Lin Qin.
They will be supported by investment specialists Ben Buckler and Qian Zhang from Baillie Gifford’s Emerging Markets clients team.
Earnshaw and Lin will co-manage the Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust and the Baillie Gifford China Fund, both previously managed from within the Emerging Markets team.
Earnshaw has been managing the China Fund for a decade and managing the trust since Baillie Gifford’s appointment in September 2020.
The Edinburgh asset manager said Mike Gush and Roddy Snell will “relinquish their roles” on the China specific funds to focus on Asia Pacific and Emerging Market strategies.
Having a single dedicated team will help “align motivation, incentives and accountability, while strengthening the ties between Shanghai and Edinburgh, to leverage ‘global and local’ perspectives,” said the firm.
Baillie Gifford said it has been investing in Chinese equities since 1994 and clients’ assets have risen significantly over the last decade across a number of strategies.
Baillie Gifford has 1,839 staff and assets under management of £223 billion. It has offices in Edinburgh (HQ), Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Krakow, London, New York, Shanghai, Toronto and Zurich.
James Budden, Baillie Gifford Director, Marketing and Distribution, said: “Investors are struck by fear or FOMO when it comes to investing in China.
“Purely focussing on China’s risks could find investors missing out on growth opportunities. The Chinese government is back to supporting private enterprise in a bid to achieve promised prosperity.
“Despite geopolitical tensions China is the home of world beating growth companies pioneering many disruptive trends of the future.”