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Scottish Mortgage heading for where

Closed-end funds and OEICs
EmptyGlass
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#523513

Postby EmptyGlass » August 18th, 2022, 3:49 pm

Bloomberg on James Anderson
"After 2,240% Run, Tesla Visionary Leaves UK Fund Bleeding Money"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-08-18/tesla-amazon-visionary-leaves-uk-fund-firm-baillie-gifford-down-100-billion

An interesting para is :
"People who questioned him or issued a negative report on one of his stock picks often found themselves on the losing side a heated argument, current and former employees say. Others learned to keep their mouths shut."

It made me think of Woodford, the topic of risk-management is also in the article.

Dod101
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#523516

Postby Dod101 » August 18th, 2022, 3:56 pm

EmptyGlass wrote:Bloomberg on James Anderson
"After 2,240% Run, Tesla Visionary Leaves UK Fund Bleeding Money"

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-08-18/tesla-amazon-visionary-leaves-uk-fund-firm-baillie-gifford-down-100-billion

An interesting para is :
"People who questioned him or issued a negative report on one of his stock picks often found themselves on the losing side a heated argument, current and former employees say. Others learned to keep their mouths shut."

It made me think of Woodford, the topic of risk-management is also in the article.


There is nothing new about volatility with Scottish Mortgage; only, this time it has arrived coincidentally with the departure of James Anderson. It has always been thus. What has the Woodford debacle got to do with it? In any case Anderson was by no means a one man band anymore than Slater is today.

Dod

EthicsGradient
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#523527

Postby EthicsGradient » August 18th, 2022, 4:48 pm

Scottish Mortgage's NAV (and price) are above any level from 2 or more years ago; that's not too bad, after a significant market drop (better than the FTSE 100, or European index, though for the S&P 500 you only have to go back 14 months to get "always below this level"). And it's not as if Anderson and Slater were always taking risks; they sold a significant part of their Tesla holding at the start of 2021 (quite a good time to, as it turned out) to stop it becoming too dominant in the IT. I think "bleeding money" is not really an accurate metaphor for an investment trust; unlike a company with actual products and employees, ITs do not have notable outgoings when things are hard; it's just their asset value going down.

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576331

Postby james51 » March 17th, 2023, 10:20 am

Reported in the FT today: if you don't like what the non-execs say, you get rid of them.

yorkshirelad1
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576337

Postby yorkshirelad1 » March 17th, 2023, 10:45 am

james51 wrote:Reported in the FT today: if you don't like what the non-execs say, you get rid of them.


FT: Scottish Mortgage non-exec removed after boardroom clash
Amar Bhidé says he disagreed with chair over process to appoint two new board members

Direct: https://www.ft.com/content/c5da6dca-ffd3-4199-88a4-5f3857e58df5
via Google: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site%3Aft.com+"scottish+mortgage"
archive: http://archive.today/2023.03.17-043653/https://www.ft.com/content/c5da6dca-ffd3-4199-88a4-5f3857e58df5

Dod101
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576350

Postby Dod101 » March 17th, 2023, 11:33 am

yorkshirelad1 wrote:
james51 wrote:Reported in the FT today: if you don't like what the non-execs say, you get rid of them.


FT: Scottish Mortgage non-exec removed after boardroom clash
Amar Bhidé says he disagreed with chair over process to appoint two new board members

Direct: https://www.ft.com/content/c5da6dca-ffd3-4199-88a4-5f3857e58df5
via Google: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=site%3Aft.com+"scottish+mortgage"
archive: http://archive.today/2023.03.17-043653/https://www.ft.com/content/c5da6dca-ffd3-4199-88a4-5f3857e58df5


Thanks for these but I am finding them very difficult to read as many are paywalled. So far as I can see there are so far no RNS' on the subject. A bit of confusion anyway since your comment suggests that the disagreement was over the appointment of two new Directors whereas the FT items seem to be about the continuing holdings in unquoted companies.

Anyway a change of Directors needs to be announced via an RNS and presumably will be in due course.

Dod

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576397

Postby buffetlunch » March 17th, 2023, 1:51 pm

Could be the 'Canary in the Coalmine' moment. I have felt uneasy about this trust for a while now. Never good when a non exec goes public in this way. Personally it is beginning to have the wiff of Woodford about it

Lootman
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576400

Postby Lootman » March 17th, 2023, 2:00 pm

buffetlunch wrote:Could be the 'Canary in the Coalmine' moment. I have felt uneasy about this trust for a while now. Never good when a non exec goes public in this way. Personally it is beginning to have the wiff of Woodford about it

The Woodford fund was a relatively new fund that sold itself mainly on the supposed skills of his celebrity name.

Scottish Mortgage has been around for over 100 years and is not so tied to a single "star". Its fate is really dependent on the fortunes of emerging technology companies and, if that is what you want to bet on, then you presumably accept some volatility along the way. I for one would be upset if it went back to being just another stodgy generalist IT with no real identity or focus.

Assuming the SMT share price is still depressed in 3 weeks time then it will be the prime candidate for next year's bed-and-ISA transaction. Until now my taxable gain on it was too painful to contemplate taking.

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576402

Postby RockRabbit » March 17th, 2023, 2:10 pm

Here is article without paywall - it appears to be about unquoted stocks and non-execs.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/co ... 09372.html

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576409

Postby Dod101 » March 17th, 2023, 2:39 pm

RockRabbit wrote:Here is article without paywall - it appears to be about unquoted stocks and non-execs.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/co ... 09372.html


Thanks. After all that there is not really much in the matter. I expect though that there will be an RNS before long. Active disagreements are quite healthy though.

Dod

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576411

Postby Dod101 » March 17th, 2023, 2:46 pm

buffetlunch wrote:Could be the 'Canary in the Coalmine' moment. I have felt uneasy about this trust for a while now. Never good when a non exec goes public in this way. Personally it is beginning to have the wiff of Woodford about it


That I think is wide of the mark. What comparison is there with Woodford? I would and never have bet too much on Scottish Mortgage but have made quite a lot from it over the years. I hold about a median holding at the moment and am confident that it will come really good again. Like Lootman I have no interest in another standard holding. I want something different. If you do not hold something different you get an Alliance, Witan or Finsbury, all very worthy but none that will set the heather on fire, ever.

Dod

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576422

Postby RockRabbit » March 17th, 2023, 3:12 pm

Dod101 wrote:
RockRabbit wrote:Here is article without paywall - it appears to be about unquoted stocks and non-execs.

https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/co ... 09372.html


Thanks. After all that there is not really much in the matter. I expect though that there will be an RNS before long. Active disagreements are quite healthy though.

Dod

Reading between the lines, I wonder if part of the issue with the unquoted holdings relates to their valuation. ie are they valued correctly by SMIT given the large fall in the value of public quoted tech stocks over the last year. ie is the NAV in doubt?

The non-Exec also appears to be asking the question whether SMIT's excellent performance to late 2021 was due to BG's stock picking prowess or did they just get lucky with QE and ZIRP?

Dod101
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576439

Postby Dod101 » March 17th, 2023, 4:36 pm

RockRabbit wrote:
Dod101 wrote:
Thanks. After all that there is not really much in the matter. I expect though that there will be an RNS before long. Active disagreements are quite healthy though.

Dod

Reading between the lines, I wonder if part of the issue with the unquoted holdings relates to their valuation. ie are they valued correctly by SMIT given the large fall in the value of public quoted tech stocks over the last year. ie is the NAV in doubt?

The non-Exec also appears to be asking the question whether SMIT's excellent performance to late 2021 was due to BG's stock picking prowess or did they just get lucky with QE and ZIRP?


Good questions. I am sure that Baillie Gifford is well aware of the valuation question and indeed they have published articles about this very point on several occasions. I think they have a committee which examines the valuations from time to time. In fact I am sure they do this on a regular basis. SMT is not the only trust of theirs that holds unquoted shares and I am pretty sure that I read somewhere that they have a committee which examines these valuations across several different trusts on a matrix basis. I would imagine that in the current climate the NAV could be in doubt; in fact I am sure that BG themselves would say that they can give no guarantee of the valuation for the unquoted shares; these are simply their best estimates.

As for their huge success in 2020/21 of course part of it was probably down to luck, or being in the right place at the right time, but it is the general philosophy and attitude that I think we need to look at and I do not think that has changed. I have held SMT for more than 20 years and in that time they have always been volatile but that is what produces spectacular capital gains.

Dod

PS Some may find it interesting to read some of the early posts on this thread of May 2020 where I commented that BG had just revised some of the unquoted holdings downwards. That tells you something.

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576447

Postby scotia » March 17th, 2023, 5:01 pm

https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/SMT/update-hb0bzwfzn5vj8lb.html
An RNS with a brief update from the Chairman

Dod101
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576451

Postby Dod101 » March 17th, 2023, 5:23 pm

scotia wrote:https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/SMT/update-hb0bzwfzn5vj8lb.html
An RNS with a brief update from the Chairman


Many thanks for that. It just shows how much rubbish speculation is out there. best to ignore the gossip.

Dod

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576484

Postby MusingMarket » March 17th, 2023, 7:55 pm

The update to the FT report says he was asked to resign and told he was being removed (the source is Bhide himself) rather than the archived version (thanks yorkshirelad1) which said he had been removed.

Dod101
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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576490

Postby Dod101 » March 17th, 2023, 8:33 pm

MusingMarket wrote:The update to the FT report says he was asked to resign and told he was being removed (the source is Bhide himself) rather than the archived version (thanks yorkshirelad1) which said he had been removed.


So you do not believe the RNS. It is not fulsome re the director concerned but I accept what the RNS has to say.

Dod

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576496

Postby MusingMarket » March 17th, 2023, 9:01 pm

Dod101 wrote:
MusingMarket wrote:The update to the FT report says he was asked to resign and told he was being removed (the source is Bhide himself) rather than the archived version (thanks yorkshirelad1) which said he had been removed.


So you do not believe the RNS. It is not fulsome re the director concerned but I accept what the RNS has to say.

Dod

I believe both, they're not contradictory.

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576502

Postby Bouleversee » March 17th, 2023, 9:23 pm

scotia wrote:https://www.lse.co.uk/rns/SMT/update-hb0bzwfzn5vj8lb.html
An RNS with a brief update from the Chairman

As also reported on Citywire https://citywire.com/funds-insider/news ... fea=362428. Having lost my entire investment in Slater's father-s Slater Walker Investment Trust many years ago, I do hope I won't see a repeat performance. Just my luck (or incompetence) to buy SM at the wrong time.

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Re: Scottish Mortgage heading for where

#576505

Postby thehaggistrap » March 17th, 2023, 9:37 pm

Scottish Mortgage got to be pretty tempting at these prices ?
3 year low at £6.78 ?
That is basically pre-covid price.

Any market rumbling about private listings surely balanced by price way lower than NAV (~£8).
Am I missing anything ?


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