Scottish Mortgage rebuffs Woodford comparisons

Breached 30% PE cap for a third of 2022

Scottish Mortgage managers Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns have rejected shareholder comparisons to Neil Woodford’s former LF Woodford Equity Income fund regarding its private equity exposure.

During an investor webinar last month, Slater and Burns were asked via a livestream by a client: "After being caught in the Woodford fund, can I be confident that Scottish Mortgage and Baillie Gifford have not gone and done exactly the same thing?" The investment trust has the ability to invest up to 30% of its portfolio in unlisted companies, and its allocation currently sits at 28.9%, according to its most recent factsheet. Scottish Mortgage will 'have to respond' to PE capabilities concerns The collapse of Woodford's flagship fund was in part due to its investments in several un...