This is the monthly report card for the Baillie Gifford International Fund. Over the past year it returned 11.7%, while its global benchmark index gained 28.3% - a big shortfall. The manager didn't give a direct market view in the report, but the portfolio still tilts toward growth tech stocks. The top three holdings are TSMC (a chip foundry, 5.8% of assets), NVIDIA (an AI chip maker, 5.4%), and Alphabet (Google's parent, 3.8%). The report reminds investors this fund suits those who can tolerate swings and hold for five years or more.
Baillie Gifford International Fund's June 2026 report shows that the fund aims to outperform the MSCI ACWI ex UK Index, investing in 70-120 high-profit growth stocks globally (ex-UK) with a five-year holding period. As of June 30, 2026, the fund had assets of £717.83m, with latest 6-month returns of
As of June 30, 2026: 6-month return 2.5% vs. 13.2% for the index over the same period; 1-year 11.7% vs. 28.3%; 3-year annualized 10.4% vs. 18.6%; 5-year annualized 2.7% vs. 12.3% — lagging the benchmark across all periods.
| Basis | 6 Months | 1 Year | 3-Year Annualized | 5-Year Annualized |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund (Class B-Acc) | 2.5% | 11.7% | 10.4% | 2.7% |
| MSCI ACWI ex UK Index | 13.2% | 28.3% | 18.6% | 12.3% |
| IA Global Sector Average | 10.1% | 21.4% | 13.4% | 8.1% |
| Sector Ranking | 494/578 | 450/568 | 348/502 | 384/441 |
Note: Share class returns are calculated at 10:00 prices, while the index is calculated at closing prices; the two valuation time points differ.
On a discrete-year basis, the fund underperformed the index in each of the five full years ended June 30, and in three of those years it also underperformed the sector average.
| Year | Fund | Index | Sector Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/06/21-30/06/22 | -23.8% | -4.2% | -8.8% |
| 30/06/22-30/06/23 | 11.6% | 12.0% | 10.8% |
| 30/06/23-30/06/24 | 14.5% | 20.9% | 14.9% |
| 30/06/24-30/06/25 | 5.4% | 7.5% | 4.6% |
| 30/06/25-30/06/26 | 11.7% | 28.3% | 21.4% |
In the most recent reporting year (30/06/25-30/06/26), the fund lagged the index by 16.6 percentage points and the sector average by 9.7 percentage points — the largest gap in five years.
The fund targets outperforming the MSCI ACWI ex UK Index (in GBP) on a rolling five-year basis after fees, investing in high-profit-growth stocks globally (ex UK). The portfolio typically holds 70-120 stocks and is currently operated with 91.
The top ten holdings total 30.0%, with TSMC (5.8%) the largest position and NVIDIA (5.4%) second; the report discloses only position weights and does not disclose individual stock contribution/detraction or buy/sell direction.
| Holding | % of Total Assets |
|---|---|
| TSMC | 5.8 |
| NVIDIA | 5.4 |
| Alphabet | 3.8 |
| Amazon.com | 3.3 |
| Samsung Electronics | 2.3 |
| Tencent | 2.0 |
| Martin Marietta Materials | 1.9 |
| Mastercard | 1.9 |
| Microsoft | 1.9 |
| Meta Platforms | 1.7 |
TSMC and NVIDIA together account for 11.2%; followed by Alphabet (3.8%), Amazon.com (3.3%), Samsung Electronics (2.3%), Tencent (2.0%), Martin Marietta Materials (1.9%), Mastercard (1.9%), Microsoft (1.9%) and Meta Platforms (1.7%). The original document does not indicate whether any holding was increased, reduced, newly established, or eliminated, nor does it provide attribution data.
At the sector level, the fund overweights Consumer Discretionary (+3.0%) and Communication Services (+2.0%), and underweights Information Technology (-3.3%) and Financials (-2.4%); at the regional level, the underweight to the United States (-6.7%) is the largest single deviation, with overweights of +3.2% each in Taiwan, Brazil, and Ireland.
Sector allocation (fund vs. MSCI ACWI ex UK Index):
| Sector | Fund % | Index % | Difference % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Technology | 29.8 | 33.1 | -3.3 |
| Financials | 13.4 | 15.8 | -2.4 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 11.8 | 8.9 | +3.0 |
| Industrials | 11.8 | 11.0 | +0.8 |
| Communication Services | 10.0 | 8.0 | +2.0 |
| Health Care | 8.6 | 8.1 | +0.6 |
| Materials | 5.3 | 3.4 | +1.9 |
| Energy | 3.5 | 3.3 | +0.2 |
| Consumer Staples | 3.2 | 4.4 | -1.2 |
| Real Estate | 1.3 | 1.6 | -0.3 |
| Cash | 1.2 | 0.0 | +1.2 |
Regional allocation (top ten regions):
| Region | Fund % | Index % | Difference % |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 58.9 | 65.6 | -6.7 |
| Taiwan | 6.6 | 3.4 | +3.2 |
| Japan | 5.4 | 5.2 | +0.3 |
| China | 4.3 | 2.4 | +1.9 |
| Brazil | 3.7 | 0.5 | +3.2 |
| Ireland | 3.3 | 0.1 | +3.2 |
| South Korea | 3.2 | 3.0 | +0.2 |
| Canada | 2.3 | 3.0 | -0.7 |
| Sweden | 2.0 | 0.8 | +1.3 |
| Netherlands | 1.7 | 1.4 | +0.3 |
| Total | 91.4 | 85.3 | - |
Note: The above reflects static allocation deviations as of the report date; the original document does not disclose fund flows or position increases/decreases during the period. The top ten regions total 91.4%, with the remaining ~8.6% allocated to other markets.
Fund size £717.83m; both Class B share classes have an AMC of 0.57%, OCF of 0.59%, and historic yield of 0.10%; risk warnings focus on emerging market custody and trading difficulties.
Continuing with the follow-on content of this document, this section focuses on continued risk warnings, multi-jurisdiction legal and compliance architecture, third-party rating endorsements, and channel contact mechanisms — elements that together form the back-end support system of the product offering document.
The two risk warnings added in the follow-up section are not a simple repetition of the first paragraph; rather, they extend the risk dimension from asset prices to fund operations and cross-border settlement:
| Risk Category | Key Points | Potential Impact Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Currency Risk | Foreign currency exposure will cause investment value and returns to "fluctuate in both directions" | If the fund holds assets denominated in a currency other than its reporting currency, exchange gains and losses will directly erode the GBP-denominated NAV |
| Pricing Volatility Risk | Share price is affected by the prices of underlying holdings and the fund's valuation methodology | When liquidity in underlying assets declines, bid-ask spreads widen, exacerbating intraday deviations from NAV |
This combined disclosure suggests that in scenarios where foreign capital allocates to emerging-market assets, currency hedging costs and discount risk often materialize simultaneously. Baillie Gifford does not provide a hedging strategy description in the document, meaning investors must bear currency risk themselves — a stance consistent with the fund's style of holding growth stocks over the long term without frequent currency hedging.
The fund lists five sets of legal statements simultaneously in the document — for Israel, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Mexico. This is not redundant; rather, it is a direct manifestation of a tiered compliance strategy adopted for different regulatory systems:
| Jurisdiction | Regulatory Nature | Core Compliance Logic | Investor Access Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Israel | Dual-law overlay | Simultaneously conforms to the First Schedule of the Securities Law and the First Schedule of the Investment Advisory Law | Dual status of "mature investor" + "qualified client" |
| Colombia | Registration exemption | Not registered with the Colombian National Registry of Securities and Issuers | Public offerings or exchange trading prohibited; private placement only |
| Chile | Active declaration regime | Pursuant to General Rule No. 336 of the Financial Market Commission (CMF) | Unregistered securities; no public disclosure obligation; investors bear their own compliance responsibility |
| Peru | Targeted at institutional investors | Not subject to prior review by the Superintendence of the Capital Market (SMV) | Institutional investors only; non-institutional investors must refrain |
Key Observation: These five sets of statements are not simply "copy-paste"; rather, they form a three-tier structure based on the strictness of each country's securities law framework —
1. Highest restriction tier: Israel (dual-identity verification)
2. Intermediate tier: Colombia and Peru (registration exemption but restricted public promotion)
3. Lowest threshold tier: Mexico (exemption via a statutory provision is sufficient)
In particular, the Chilean statement explicitly emphasizes that "tax and foreign exchange regulations are the investors' own responsibility." In substance, this transfers the compliance costs of cross-border transactions onto investors, and the fund itself assumes no risk of delayed settlement caused by changes in the applicability of local laws. This refined jurisdiction-specific statement system is a typical practice of international funds seeking a balance between regulatory arbitrage and compliance costs.
The document discloses dual external ratings from Morningstar and Rayner Spencer Mills Research (RSMR). Notably, the Morningstar Medalist Rating™ shows an Analyst-Driven coverage rate as high as 100%, which is a key signal—
> “100% data coverage” means the rating is based entirely on analysts’ qualitative judgment, rather than on fitting historical return data.
This qualitative rating model aligns closely with Baillie Gifford’s long-term holding strategy: short-term performance fluctuations do not interfere with the ratings, and analysts focus more on the continuity of the investment process and team stability. RSMR’s ratings, by contrast, are aimed more at UK local wealth-advisor channels. Together, the two ratings synergistically cover two dimensions: the institutional side (Morningstar) and the retail distribution side (RSMR).
The end of the document presents a dual-channel contact mechanism, with clear classification between Intermediary and Institutional, along with a phone recording notice ("Your call may be recorded for training or monitoring purposes"). On one hand, this aligns with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) requirements on record retention; on the other hand, it also implies the fund's traceability design requirements in distribution channel management.
Although this section is dominated by procedural disclosures, the core strategic information conveyed behind it merits attention:
In the extended analysis of the next section, the sales qualification matrix of the Baillie Gifford fund family across different jurisdictions can be further tracked, quantifying the breadth of its compliance coverage against peers.