Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking - Baillie Gifford

Emerging markets: when the crowd gets it wrong

Greek loans, Polish denim, German cookers: the new shape of European growth

Joe Faraday, Head of European Equities at Baillie Gifford, outlines a revitalized investment strategy centered on broadening growth definitions across the diverse European landscape. By treating Europe as a collection of distinct markets rather than a monolithic entity, the approach prioritizes active stock picking and...

SpaceX: past, present, future – and finding the next world-changers

SpaceX’s transformation from a speculative startup to an industry leader hinges on a fundamental shift in rocket economics, moving from disposable hardware to a reusable, depreciable model. By vertically integrating its supply chain and pursuing ambitious, long-term goals like Mars colonization, the company attracts el...

Tokenisation: a better way to own what you own

Tokenization represents a fundamental rewiring of the financial system, replacing legacy, paper-heavy infrastructure with blockchain-based smart contracts to eliminate friction and duplicate ledgers. By converting assets into self-sovereign code, this shift enables 24/7 trading, improved liquidity, and greater accessib...

Why American culture feels so chaotic – and how investors can benefit

Entropy serves as a powerful framework for understanding structural market shifts, moving from centralized, low-entropy systems to fragmented, high-entropy ones. Dave Bujnowski, a partner at Baillie Gifford, argues that identifying these transitions is critical for finding outlier growth companies. American culture cur...

The big squeeze: when bottlenecks work to your advantage

Bottlenecks—situations where supply cannot expand at the rate of demand—function as primary drivers of long-term investment value. By identifying these scarcity points, investors can pinpoint companies with significant pricing power and the ability to resist competition. Baillie Gifford partner Mike Taylor utilizes thi...

The active edge: the case for growth in uncertain times

The podcast explores active investing strategies amid the increasing dominance of passive funds, questioning how active managers can deliver superior results. Baillie Gifford partner Stuart Dunbar explains the firm's focus on "uncommon understanding," achieved through deep company engagement and long-term perspectives....

China’s new growth leaders: inventing, not copying

China has transitioned from a manufacturing hub into a global leader in high-tech innovation, characterized by a unique synergy between state-directed national priorities and profit-driven corporate growth. Investment success in this volatile market requires identifying companies that align with long-term goals in sect...

Smarter models, sharper founders: growth investing in the AI era

Artificial intelligence represents a fundamental paradigm shift in the global economy, evolving from simple information processing into a pervasive intelligence layer. Investment strategies now prioritize identifying companies that leverage this technological change to scale operations and create long-term value. Key b...

Emerging market companies leapfrogging western rivals

Emerging market companies have evolved from low-cost imitators into global innovation leaders, driven by the absence of legacy systems and the necessity to turn strategic constraints into competitive advantages. Firms like PolicyBazaar, Nubank, and Sea demonstrate this shift by leapfrogging traditional infrastructure a...

Private companies: from Anthropic to Zetwerk – and other new investments

Growth-stage private companies now represent a massive, trillion-dollar investment opportunity, fundamentally distinct from traditional venture capital or private equity buyouts. These businesses are typically founder-led, revenue-generating, and scaling rapidly, utilizing the internet to access global capital without ...

Where obsession meets opportunity: Japan’s ‘overlooked’ small caps

Japan’s small-cap equity market presents a vast, under-researched landscape for growth investors, offering thousands of unique opportunities outside the global mainstream. The "Galapagos Syndrome"—Japan’s relative market isolation—allows innovative firms to disrupt stagnant, large-scale domestic incumbents. Companies l...

Beyond the benchmark: Baillie Gifford CEO on why being different pays off

In this episode of "Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking," host Leo Kellyan interviews Tim Campbell, the CEO of Baillie Gifford, about his career journey and the firm's investment philosophy. Campbell discusses his unconventional path from studying history to leading an investment firm, emphasizing Baillie Gifford's t...

Skin in the game: the hidden power of persistence

In this episode of "Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking," Leo Kellyan interviews Jenny Davis, a partner and investment manager at Baillie Gifford, about the concept of persistence in companies and how it can provide a lasting competitive advantage. Jenny shares her unconventional path to asset management and discusse...

The ‘invisible’ millions: banking’s new frontier

In this episode of Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking, Leo Kellyan interviews Ed Whitten, Impact Director at Baillie Gifford's Positive Change strategy, about financial inclusion and its potential for transforming lives and fueling long-term growth for financial companies. Whitten discusses the importance of providi...

Emerging markets: the next engines of global growth

In this episode of "Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking," Leo Kellyan interviews Andrew Keiller, a partner at Baillie Gifford, about long-term growth opportunities in emerging markets. They discuss the increasing significance of emerging markets in global trade, innovation, and raw material supply, and the potential ...

UK growth: opportunities amid tariff turbulence

This episode explores UK growth opportunities, focusing on how the Baillie Gifford UK Growth Trust aligns with the UK government's economic priorities. Iain McCombie, joint manager of the trust, discusses his investment approach, emphasizing the importance of adaptable management teams in navigating economic uncertaint...

European growth: unique brands, hidden champions

In this episode of "Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking," Leo Kellyan interviews Stephen Paice, Head of European Equities at Baillie Gifford, about investment opportunities in Europe. They discuss why Europe is currently undervalued compared to the U.S., addressing concerns about economic underperformance, political ...

Quantum, space, fusion: 3 firms engineering the future

In this episode of "Short Briefings on Long Term Thinking," host Leo Kellyan interviews Luke Ward, an investment manager at Baillie Gifford, about three private companies with the potential to drive significant human progress: SciQuantum (quantum computing), SpaceX (space travel), and Shine Technologies (nuclear fusion...

5 inevitable and investable growth drivers

This podcast interviews Stuart Dunbar, a Baillie Gifford partner, about long-term investment opportunities. The conversation covers several key areas: the inevitable rise of robotics and its supporting technologies, the transformative potential of AI-driven healthcare innovation, the ongoing energy transition and its...