John MacDougall is to leave his role as portfolio manager of Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon on December 1 after eight years to take up a global equities role at the company.
He will be replaced by Praveen Kumar who started at Baillie Gifford in 2008, and joined its Japanese equities team as an investment manager in 2011.
In a statement, the board of the £160m Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon trust said: “John will work closely with Praveen to ensure a smooth transition in portfolio management responsibilities.”
The board confirmed Mr Kumar will continue to be supported by the Japanese equities team of five investment managers and three analysts as manager of the trust.
“The board would like to thank John for his sterling work managing the fund and working with the board over the past eight years. The performance that John and the Baillie Gifford team have produced during that time period has been first rate, and the board is looking forward to continued strong performance under Praveen’s stewardship,” it added in the statement.
The Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon trust has delivered a 30.4 per cent return in the year to October 29, compared to the 18.2 per cent average return generated by the AIC IT Japanese Smaller Companies sector, according to FE Analytics.
