The £1 billion Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust plc said its share price and net asset value (NAV) returned 44.5% and 31% respectively in the year to May 31, 2026, compared with a total return of 29.8% for the S&P 500 Index.
The company’s shares moved from a discount of 9.4% at the start of the financial year to a discount of 0.1% at May 31, 2026.
Despite the results, Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust now has to face new resolutions at its October 23 AGM from Saba Capital Management, the New York-based activist hedge fund that controls roughly 29% of its shares.
US Growth Trust chair Tom Burnet urged its shareholders to vote against Saba’s resolutions.
The investment trust said it has received a requisition notice from Saba requiring the company to propose three additional resolutions to the business of the AGM to elect three individuals “linked with or employed by Saba to the board.”
US Growth Trust said: “The board strongly believes that, if the Saba Resolutions are passed, not only would the appointments severely compromise the independence of the board but could also effectively herald the end of the company’s existing US growth strategy as shareholders know it.”
Burnet said: “In short, the company’s strategy is delivering, and exceptional opportunities are ahead.
“But Saba wants to end this and is, again, making proposals which would compromise the independence of the board, seeking the appointment of three of its own nominee directors who may, if elected, pursue proposals that are designed to further Saba’s own interests at the expense of other Shareholders.
“The board believes that Saba is not interested in achieving liquidity for itself but is intent on obtaining control of the company. It is the board’s view that the appointment of Saba’s nominees would signal the end of the Company’s differentiated and performing current strategy, heralding its transition into a vehicle for Saba’s own benefit.
“We urge all of our Shareholders to make your voices heard: VOTE AGAINST the Saba Resolutions and VOTE FOR the Company Resolutions to protect the future of your company and back your board.”
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust added: “Given shareholders have voted down Saba’s proposals previously, the board and investment manager have engaged with them to explore various opportunities for its exit.
“These have included proposals that, if pursued, would have provided Saba, and any other shareholders who wish to participate, the option of a cash exit at NAV less portfolio realisation costs, with the investment manager bearing all other transaction costs (i.e. an exit at c. 99.75% of NAV). Saba rejected all of those proposals and has requisitioned resolutions to appoint the Saba nominees.
“If the Saba resolutions pass and the Saba nominees are elected to the board, shareholders will no longer be represented by a wholly-independent and conflict-free board. Beyond reference to a liquidity event, Saba has not made clear its longer-term intentions for the company, or for those shareholders who wish to remain invested in the current strategy.”
In the annual results, US Growth Trust portfolio managers Gary Robinson and Kirsty Gibson observed one of the “starkest themes” during the year was the contrast in performance between AI infrastructure names and traditional software companies — with the former performing strongly while many software firms faced more challenging market conditions.
Similarly, the managers observed a divergence between private and public holdings — unlisted holdings were a significant contributor to returns, while public companies delivered more mixed outcomes.
The Trust’s structure allows it to invest in high-growth private companies alongside listed businesses, providing shareholders with exposure to opportunities that are often difficult to access through public markets.
Private investments accounted for 45% of total assets at the year end.
Much of the fund’s performance was driven by long-held, high-conviction investments in exceptional growth businesses. Four of the top five contributors were private companies: SpaceX, Anthropic, Stripe and Databricks. Nvidia was the only listed company among the five largest contributors.
The fund’s allocation to AI infrastructure has significantly increased over the last year. There was also broad weakness in software firms due to concerns about AI’s potential impact on their market opportunities and competitive positions.
The 12 listed holdings added to the portfolio were Alphabet, AppLovin, Axon Enterprise, Broadcom, Circle Internet Group, Coinbase Global, Figma, Knife River, Mastercard, Medline, RBC Bearings and United Therapeutics.
Listed holdings sold during the period included Airbnb, Capital One, Chewy, Datadog, Doximity, Globant SA, Ginkgo Bioworks, Inspire Medical Systems, Penumbra, Pinterest, Roku, Sana Biotechnology and The Trade Desk.
Gary Robinson, portfolio manager of Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust, said: “The events of the last twelve months have convinced us that AI will affect the economy sooner, and more profoundly, than we had assumed, and we have evolved the portfolio to reflect that.
“We own much of the infrastructure being built to meet this demand: the chips, the clouds, the frontier labs and the rails that agents will run on.
“We remain optimistic about the long-term prospects for innovation and entrepreneurship in the United States, while recognising that the path to AI adoption will not run in a straight line.
“We should expect ups and downs in the fundamentals. As long-term investors, our focus remains on identifying exceptional businesses that are helping to shape this transition and supporting them through the inevitable fluctuations that accompany profound technological change.”