This is about a global small-company fund from Baillie Gifford. It gained 63.5% over the past year, beating its index by about 30 percentage points, but it lost money for three straight years before that. The fund makes big bets on a few companies it believes in; its largest holding is SpaceX, at 26% of assets. For everyday investors, the takeaway is simple: this fund can soar or sink sharply, so it's only suitable for people willing to hold for five-plus years and stomach wild swings. It's worth reading because it shows how high returns often come with high risk and concentrated bets.
Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust is a global small-cap growth trust investing in frontier technology innovation and transformative companies. It is actively managed and does not track an index, with a portfolio of 60-100 companies and up to 25% of assets available for investment in private compa
Over the past 12 months (to 30 June 2026), the NAV return was +63.5%, outperforming the S&P Global Small Cap Index (+33.0%) by approximately 30.5 percentage points; the share price return over the same period was +67.9%.
| Metric | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAV | +63.5% | +71.5% | -12.5% | +208.8% |
| Share Price | +67.9% | +106.0% | -18.9% | +233.5% |
| S&P Global Small Cap Index | +33.0% | +53.6% | +47.4% | +178.0% |
| Period | NAV | Share Price | Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/06/21–30/06/22 | -42.4% | -51.5% | -11.3% |
| 30/06/22–30/06/23 | -11.4% | -18.9% | +8.2% |
| 30/06/23–30/06/24 | -7.1% | +4.4% | +10.5% |
| 30/06/24–30/06/25 | +12.8% | +17.5% | +4.5% |
| 30/06/25–30/06/26 | +63.5% | +67.9% | +33.0% |
The discrete data clearly show that the fund underperformed the benchmark by a wide margin for three consecutive years from 2021 to 2024, before reversing course and delivering significant outperformance over the most recent two years — this page offers no attribution analysis; the reader sees only the results.
This page discloses no new positions, additions, reductions, or exits, but the static structural data indicate a highly concentrated portfolio, low turnover, and very light leverage.
The top ten holdings collectively account for 54.1% of total assets, with the single largest position, Space Exploration Technologies, at 26.1% — meaning more than a quarter of the portfolio is concentrated in one company:
| Rank | Holding | % of Total Assets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Space Exploration Technologies | 26.1% |
| 2 | PsiQuantum | 4.8% |
| 3 | Twist Bioscience | 3.6% |
| 4 | Xometry, Inc. | 3.6% |
| 5 | Alnylam Pharmaceuticals | 3.5% |
| 6 | Astera Labs | 3.4% |
| 7 | JFrog | 2.5% |
| 8 | Axon Enterprise | 2.4% |
| 9 | ASPEED Technology | 2.2% |
| 10 | Guardant Health | 2.0% |
Geographic distribution (as stated in the original): North America 74.2%, Asia 10.0% (including China 2.7%, Japan 2.6%, Taiwan 2.8%, South Korea 1.2%, India 0.7%), Europe 6.7% (including Israel 3.0%, Switzerland 1.3%, France 1.0%, Other 1.5%), UK 4.8%, Australasia 2.2%, South America 0.9%, net current assets 1.1%.
Sector distribution: the report provides only a bar chart without numerical values, covering 24 sectors in total, of which the top 20 are shown in the chart — the largest bar is Diversified Telecommunication Services (corresponding to the sector of SpaceX), and the rest include Software, Biotechnology, Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment, Health Care Providers & Services, Aerospace & Defense, Electronic Equipment/Instruments/Components, Electrical Equipment, Trading Companies & Distributors, Machinery, Life Sciences Tools & Services, Health Care Equipment & Supplies, Consumer Finance, Technology Hardware/Storage/Peripherals, Pharmaceuticals, Metals & Mining, IT Services, Real Estate Management & Development, Diversified Consumer Services, and Capital Markets.
Position parameters: gross gearing 2%, net gearing 1% (total borrowings £26.37m); Active Share 98% (almost zero overlap with the benchmark); annual turnover 19%; private company investments 10.1% (capped at 25% at initial investment).
Total assets £1,087.83m, zero dividends, share price at a 5.3% discount to NAV; the product is positioned for investors seeking long-term capital appreciation and able to tolerate significant short-term volatility.