B Gifford US Growth, Saba target, returns 40.9%

Baillie Gifford HQ, Edinburgh

Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust plc — one of the seven investment trust companies currently under attack from New York activist hedge fund Saba Capital Management — reported that its share price and net asset value (NAV) returned 40.9% and 29.4% respectively during the six months to November 30, 2024.

This compares with a total return of 15.3% for the S&P 500 Index, in sterling terms, over the same period.

Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust chair Tom Burnet said: “We are pleased to present the company’s Interim Financial Report for a highly successful period for the company’s growth strategy, delivering NAV returns to shareholders of 29.4% over the six month period, almost double the 15.3% total return of the S&P 500 Index in sterling terms.

“Nevertheless, despite this extremely strong performance, Saba has sought to introduce self-serving and destructive proposals to remove the independent board and try to assume control of the company through placing two of its own nominees on the board and will likely thereafter attempt to assume management of the company.

“The company and the strong growth potential shown in today’s results is directly under threat in a vote where every vote will count.

“We therefore reiterate urging all shareholders to VOTE AGAINST Saba’s proposals.

“If shareholders have not already done so, the next few days will likely be their last chance to vote ahead of the deadline – it’s critical they do not miss the opportunity to save their investment from an uncertain and potentially destructive trajectory.”

Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust said that at the end of November, it held positions in 25 private companies which comprised 33.5% of total assets.

The fund made five new purchases over the six months: SharkNinja, Lineage, The Ensign Group, COSM Experience (private) and DraftKings. In addition, it made three complete sales during the period: 10X Genomics, Coursera and HashiCorp.

The fund’s largest investments included Space Exploration Technologies, The Trade Desk, Shopify, Amazon, Nvidia, Stripe, Netflix, Meta, Doordash and Cloudfare.