Baillie Gifford have revealed how they intend to change the strategy and style of the £300m Schroder UK Growth trust.
Baillie Gifford will take over the management of the trust, which will be renamed the Baillie Gifford Growth trust, within two months.
In the past the trust has been run by high profile fund managers at Schroders including Richard Buxton and Julie Dean, both of whom left the firm for rivals.
Baillie Gifford has confirmed while in the past the trust has been run using the value style of investing, the focus under the new management team, led by Milena Mileva, will be on deploying the growth style of investment.
Ms Mileva said "there will be incredibly little overlap" between the old portfolio and the new.
She said she expects there to be fewer of the large cap stocks in the UK market, and fewer holdings overall, with close to 35 holdings.
Baillie Gifford are currently engaging with the regulatory authorities and also preparing the ground with stock market dealers to allow for a quick disposal of the unwanted portfolio holdings and purchase of new holdings.
Ms Mileva and her colleagues said they have a "bias" against the big bank stocks, as they regard those companies as being engaged largely in areas where it is hard to grow margins.
The fund manager is interested in what she calls "niche financials", and said platform Hargreaves Lansdown is likely to be one of the largest holdings in the trust once she becomes manager.
She described the company as "a multi-decade opportunity" due to the strong brand name of the company.
Baillie Gifford will be paid an annual management fee of 0.5 per cent on the value of the trust's net asset value, though it has agreed to waive its management fee for the first six months.
Unlike open-ended funds, investment trusts are overseen by independent boards of directors, distinct from the investment manager, who have the power to move the trust to different fund management company if performance if deemed inadequate.
Baillie Gifford’s wider UK equity team manage assets of £5.8bn.
The trust will change its name to Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust.
david.thorpe@ft.com
