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Scottish Mortgage (Baillie Gifford) Letters & Research Archive

Scottish Mortgage is Baillie Gifford's flagship investment trust (founded 1909, LSE ticker SMT), known for its maximalist growth style — long-term stakes in Tesla, Amazon and ASML plus bold allocations to private companies like SpaceX and ByteDance. It is the UK retail investor's flagship vehicle for global disruptive growth.

35 pieces · 2025–2026 · updated every Monday

2026

10-13Portfolio Update Q3 2026This update covers Scottish Mortgage's Q3 2026 portfolio. The managers argue AI is starting a 'new industrial age' where value shifts from pure software to physical infrastructure like chips, power, a…→10-09Reflecting on two decades with AmazonThis piece reflects on Scottish Mortgage's 20-year investment in Amazon. The fund's manager says Amazon's real edge isn't what it sells but its culture of experimentation and long-term thinking, insti…→10-08Baillie Gifford Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust FactsheetThis factsheet covers the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. Over the past year, its share price rose 40.3%, far outpacing the global stock market's 18.7%. The fund focuses on US and Asian tech firms…→10-01Write-Up: Ask the ManagersScottish Mortgage fund believes big returns come from a few winners, so it bets heavily on space and AI. It's optimistic that AI demand will far outstrip supply, benefiting key players. Top holdings:…→10-01Write-up: Signals from the FutureThis article says AI is improving faster than most people think, and the Scottish Mortgage fund is betting on a few firms that use AI to speed up drug and battery breakthroughs. They're optimistic: ev…→10-01Write-Up: Co-ExistenceThis article says AI is 'jagged'—it does some things amazingly well but fails at others (like writing long articles). Scottish Mortgage believes the real advantage comes not from which AI model you us…→10-01Write-Up: The Dragon's in the DetailThis piece says China's headline economy looks weak, but great companies still thrive. The fund sees world-beating EVs, batteries, and AI—now priced cheaply. Three picks: BYD (amazing tech but likely…→09-25The Portfolio in MotionThis update from Scottish Mortgage covers their portfolio moves. Their big win is SpaceX: a $200M investment in 2018 is now worth about $5B at IPO, making it a top return driver. They're betting on th…→09-25Signals from the FutureThis interview says AI could be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution, but most people underestimate its speed because they think linearly. Fund manager Tom Slater is bullish on AI for scient…→09-25The Dragon's in the DetailThis piece says don't judge China by gloomy headlines—many companies are quietly innovating. The fund managers see China as a leader in EVs, batteries, and AI, and think the market is too pessimistic.…→09-25Co-ExistenceThis interview explores how AI is advancing fast but unevenly, and how companies and society must learn to coexist with it. Fund manager Lawrence Burns and professor Ethan Mollick believe AI progress…→09-25Ask the ManagersThis covers fund managers Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns answering investor questions, focusing on growth beyond AI: SpaceX, healthcare, luxury goods, and quantum computing. They're bullish on SpaceX (…→09-15Perspectives on Progress #19This report says AI's growth is hitting a power shortage, so the fund bought natural gas producer EQT and power generator Vistra to benefit from supplying electricity to AI data centers. Moderna's can…→09-09Baillie Gifford Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust FactsheetThis is about the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust's performance last month. It's a fund that holds tech and growth companies for the long term. Its share price rose 36.4%, beating the global stock…→08-12Baillie Gifford Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust FactsheetThis monthly update covers Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, a fund that buys and holds world-class growth companies, including private ones. It gives no market forecast, only restates its long-term…→07-27ASML: The Printing Press of the AI AgeThis article explains why ASML, a Dutch company, is so important: it makes the machines (called lithography machines) needed to produce advanced AI chips. No matter which AI company wins—OpenAI, Googl…→07-22Portfolio Update Q2 2026This article explains how Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, a big tech investor, recently moved its money. They still back SpaceX hard after its IPO, arguing rockets are just the start — future prof…→07-09Baillie Gifford Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust FactsheetScottish Mortgage Investment Trust gained roughly 40% last year, but its risk warnings deserve just as much attention. The fund borrows money to invest (called leverage), which magnifies losses when m…→07-02Manager Insights: Lawrence BurnsScottish Mortgage's fund manager looks back at the past year and argues that AI has entered an 'agentic' era: instead of just answering questions, AI can be given a goal and work through it using tool…→07-02Manager Insights: Tom SlaterTom Slater runs Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, a stock fund that bets heavily on a few high-growth companies. His main point: politics and tariffs are background noise; the real story is the glob…→07-01Scottish Mortgage Valuation - 31 May 2026Scottish Mortgage is a large investment fund that holds both publicly traded tech stocks and private companies. This report lists its holdings as of 31 May 2026. The fund is almost fully invested, wit…→06-26Manager Review: Tom SlaterThis report comes from Scottish Mortgage, a publicly listed fund that invests in innovative tech companies. Its central claim: the biggest story isn't political upheaval, but the global build-out of a…→06-26Manager Review: Lawrence BurnsThis manager report from Scottish Mortgage, a global growth fund, argues that AI has entered the 'agent era': programs that can plan and act on their own, not just chat. That means much more computing…→06-22Gopuff: Online Shopping’s Express AisleThis piece explains how Gopuff, a delivery company, works differently from apps like Uber Eats: it owns its own warehouses and stock, aiming to bring everyday items to your door in as little as 15 min…→06-02Scottish Mortgage Quarterly Data Pack (Retail)Scottish Mortgage, a UK investment trust (a type of listed fund), just released its quarterly update. It concentrates most of its money in a small number of high-growth tech companies, including priva…→05-25Affirm: Why Shoppers are Walking Away from Credit CardsThis interview profiles Affirm, a 'buy now, pay later' company that lets shoppers split purchases into installments instead of using credit cards. Its distinctive promise is never charging late fees o…→04-23Private Investor Forum 2026: Investing in great growth companiesThis article explains how Scottish Mortgage and Monks invest: they believe only about 4% of companies generate almost all stock market wealth, so they focus on a few potential winners and hold them fo…→04-23Enveda: Finding Hidden Medicines in NatureThis interview features Enveda, a biotech company that takes a different approach: instead of studying single genes, it taps into chemicals shaped by nature over billions of years and uses AI like Cha…→04-01Cultivating uncertainty: why Anthropic’s culture grows confidenceThis article explains why Scottish Mortgage, an investment trust, is betting on Anthropic, an AI company. Instead of trying to predict which AI model will win, they focus on Anthropic's culture: safet…→04-01Sea surge: a growth story in three actsThis analysis explains how Sea Limited uses its three businesses—gaming (Free Fire), e-commerce (Shopee), and finance (digital wallets and loans)—to build a hard-to-copy advantage in Southeast Asia, w…→03-31Scottish Mortgage Annual Report - including the Notice of AGM - March 2026This annual report explains how Scottish Mortgage, a stock fund, performed and where it’s heading. It concentrates most of its money in a handful of companies expected to reshape the world, such as Sp…→

2025

09-30Scottish Mortgage Interim Financial Report - September 2025This is about a British fund called Scottish Mortgage (despite the name, it buys fast-growing tech companies, not mortgages). In the six months to September 2025, its assets rose 22.9%, beating the gl…→09-15New kids on the blockchainThis report explains why a major investment firm is betting on cryptocurrency infrastructure rather than buying coins like Bitcoin itself. Instead of holding volatile crypto, they invest in companies…→09-09The age of resilience: outperformers must first be survivorsThis report says investing isn't just about finding fast-growing companies—you need ones that can survive surprises. For example, Swedish battery maker Northvolt (once seen as Europe's champion) went…→05-08Horizon Robotics: Driving the Autonomous RevolutionThis interview covers Horizon Robotics, a Chinese company that designs self-driving chips and software. Its founder predicts that within three years you won't need to hold the wheel on daily commutes,…→