Edinburgh-based fund house Baillie Gifford is to open an office in Shanghai in the coming months, with the aim of boosting its research capabilities in the Chinese equity market.
The office, which will be managed by an existing Baillie Gifford partner, will allow the firm to stay close to companies in China, both those in which it is currently invested, and those into which it may want to invest in future.
It will not be involved in the distribution or marketing of funds to Chinese investors, however.
FTAdviser understands the firm has a significant number of employees who are Chinese and have expressed a desire to continue to work with the company in their country of birth.
Baillie Gifford has one China fund, but a number of its other mandates have significant exposure to the market, including the £7bn Scottish Mortgage investment trust.
A staff member associated with this trust spent a considerable period of time in China last Autumn investigating investment opportunities, Baillie Gifford said.
Chinese firms Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are among its top ten holdings.
The company also runs a number of segregated mandates in the country, but does not market its range of funds to Chinese investors.
david.thorpe@ft.com
