Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon (BGS) was launched in 1985 to invest in Japanese smaller companies. It caught the tail end of the 1980s boom in Japanese stocks and then endured a volatile two decades as the bubble steadily deflated. In the twelve years following the financial crisis, BGS produced an astonishing 18-fold gain but since 2021 it has significantly underperformed its benchmark and its shares have more than halved as investors turned away from Baillie Gifford's distinctive style of growth investing. BGS traded at a premium for most of the 2010s and was able to more than double its share ...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
Baillie Gifford Japan (ticker: BGFD) was launched in 1981 and experienced incredible growth during its first decade thanks to the 'Japanese economic miracle' with its share price rising almost tenfold. As most investors will know, Japanese equities have struggled ever since. But under the leadership of Sarah Whitley, Baillie Gifford Japan significantly outperformed its benchmark. From her 1991 appointment as lead manager to her retirement in 2018, the trust returned 545% in sterling terms compared to the Japanese market's 156%. Matthew Brett, who served as Whitley's deputy, took over the lead ...
This is a premium article for our subscribers.
Please log in below to read it, or find out how to join the Money Makers Circle.
© 2026 Money Makers