Tom Slater, manager of the firm’s £13.8bn Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, told an investor forum in London, it had been «a mistake» to assume that changes in consumer habits during the pandemic would last, «and we were slow to recognise the significance of the shattering in Sino-US relations». More than $8bn of losses on Tesla and $6bn on Shopify made these two of Baillie Gifford’s worst-performing holdings. Tesla is the Scottish Mortgage trust’s second-largest investment, accounting for 6.8 per cent of the fund. It also has a smaller stake in Shopify.
Until 2019, it was the largest shareholder after Tesla chief Elon Musk, with about 8 per cent. It has since reduced its holding to less than 1 per cent, but Thomas said it remained the 12th largest shareholder. «Tesla’s actually been a giant success story. It’s just been a difficult period.» Tesla shares fell 65 per cent last year but have risen 1,908 per cent since Baillie Gifford first invested in 2013.
Shares in Shopify, which provides software to help small businesses sell online, fell 74.8 per cent in 2022 but increased almost fivefold between the start of the pandemic and November 2021. Baillie Gifford has been adding to its stake in the company.
If you'd have studied the market closely you would have known that Tesla shares will go down (maybe not as much as they did). As for Shopify, it wasn't so clear as with Tesla but still not hard to connect the dots.
ReplyDeleteThese 2 were great investments for a good while, but not lately.
DeleteI think now it's a good time to buy shares with Tesla and Shopify. They will be back up eventually.
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