Edinburgh-based fund house Baillie Gifford is to launch an investment trust focused on US equities.
The Baillie Gifford US Growth trust will focus on companies with a market cap of at least $1.5bn (£1bn).
There will be a both quoted and unquoted companies held in the trust, of which $500m (£359m) will be the minimum size of investee companies not listed on any market. Unlisted companies cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total of the assets of the trust.
The new mandate will be run by Gary Robinson and deputy managers, Helen Xiong and Andrei Kiselev.
All three of those work on the £999m Baillie Gifford American fund, which is the absolute top performer in the IA North America sector over the past three year. The return of 80 per cent over the past three years to 13 February ranks it top performer from 77 funds in the sector.
Darius McDermott, managing director at Chelsea Financial Services said the management team have a very strong track record and the price at which the shares of the trust are coming to market is “sensible”, making this an attractive option for investors.
He added that $1.5bn (£1bn)counts as small cap in the US market, and those may benefit from the recent corporation tax cut.
David.Thorpe@ft.com
