Baillie Gifford reopens flagship EM fund

Baillie Gifford is to remove a 2% initial charge from its Emerging Markets Growth fund next week as it seeks to encourage new investment once more.

The initial charge, in place since 2011, was designed to dissuade new investors from buying the fund once it hit £1bn in assets. Since then, however, the portfolio - managed by head of emerging markets Richard Sneller (pictured) - has seen assets fall to £476m, prompting the change of heart. The portfolio remains top quartile in the IMA Global Emerging Markets sector over most timeframes, having returned 94.8% in the five years to 10 January compared with the sector average of 75%. Over three years, however, the fund has lost 14.8%, worse than the sector average of a 12.9% loss, fo...