#43 The Growth Investor - Tom Slater on Scottish Mortgage, China & the Mag 7

Tom Slater, who runs Baillie Gifford’s US equity team and manages the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, discusses growth strategies versus value investing, and the culture at Baillie Gifford. Slater emphasizes the importance of a long-term investment horizon, citing that extending the time horizon to 10 years leads to outliers, and it becomes less about growth versus value and more about time. He also highlights Baillie Gifford's unique approach of backing enthusiasm and avoiding stock pitching to mitigate behavioral biases. Slater values technical founders, noting their ability to deeply integrate AI into their businesses, exemplified by Zuckerberg's early investment in Nvidia chips. He also touches on the firm's investment in BYD, driven by China's rapid technological advancement and BYD's potential to become a global EV leader.