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STRATEGY Global growth: public & private equity |
CURRENT PRICE GBp 1,626.00 |
NAV PER SHARE GBp 1,806.21 (5 Oct 2026, actual) |
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DISCOUNT / PREMIUM TO NAV ‑10.0% |
YTD TOTAL RETURN +37.3% |
AUM (TOTAL ASSETS) ~£19.0bn (2 Oct 2026) |
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DIVIDEND YIELD ~0.30% |
NEXT DIVIDEND ~GBp 1.59–1.60 (interim est.; ex ~19 Nov, pays ~11 Dec 2026) |
TER (INCL. PERF. FEE) 0.33% (no perf. fee; yr to 31 Mar 2026) |
Arthur, here is the simple version: Scottish Mortgage is a £19bn listed fund that bets on the world's most transformative companies — both publicly traded and, unusually, privately held — before most investors have the chance to own them.
Most investors can only buy shares in companies that are already listed on a stock exchange. But some of the most extraordinary growth in a company's life happens before it ever lists publicly — think of what early investors in Amazon or Tesla experienced. The problem for ordinary investors is that private companies are normally off-limits: you need to be a venture capital firm or a sovereign wealth fund to get a seat at the table.
Scottish Mortgage, managed by Baillie Gifford's Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns, aims to generate strong long-term total returns from a portfolio of listed and private growth companies. Their philosophy is that the majority of stock market returns are generated by a few successful businesses, and that markets offer asymmetric returns — meaning a single exceptional winner can more than compensate for many losers. Private company exposure is mainly in later-stage, cash-generative firms; notably, SMT has holdings in six of the largest eight private companies in the world.
Scottish Mortgage was established in 1909 and is a member of the FTSE 100; it is managed by Baillie Gifford, an independent private partnership founded in 1908. The ten-year NAV total return of 435.2% compares favourably with 233.9% from the FTSE All-World Index, reflecting the benefits of a patient, long-term approach. Over the trust's latest financial year ending March 2026, managers added new investments including Minimax (a Chinese AI company), advertising technology business AppLovin, and battery manufacturer CATL, continuing to rotate the portfolio toward the next wave of disruptive technology — particularly artificial intelligence.
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Step 1 Raise Permanent Capital As a closed-end trust, SMT issues a fixed pool of shares on the London Stock Exchange — it never has to sell holdings to meet redemptions, giving managers true long-term staying power. |
Step 2 Identify Transformative Companies Baillie Gifford's research team hunts globally for businesses — public or private — that could be many times larger in a decade, with a focus on technology, healthcare, and disruptive consumer platforms. |
Step 3 Invest & Hold for Years Positions are sized by conviction and potential upside — not by index weight. Some holdings like Amazon and Netflix have been held for over a decade. Private stakes are negotiated directly with companies. |
Step 4 NAV Grows With Holdings As underlying companies grow in value, the trust's Net Asset Value (NAV) rises. Private holdings are formally re-valued periodically by the Board — for example, SpaceX was revalued upward in March 2026 based on an external transaction. |
Step 5 Returns Flow to Investors Investors profit via a rising share price (the primary driver) and a small semi-annual dividend. The share price can trade at a discount or premium to NAV — today's discount means investors buy £1 of assets for less than £1. |
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Short version: a plain-English explainer and key figures only. It contains no investment rating, thesis or valuation - those are in the full deep-dive report, which is produced separately for selected companies.