Baillie Gifford acknowledges four years of underperformance; consultants to study international allocation

Baillie Gifford investment staff told the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Police and Fire Retirement Fund board on Feb. 12, 2025, that their international growth strategy has underperformed for four calendar years and described changes they say are intended to restore long-term outperformance.

"Our long term delivered returns have, quite frankly, not been good enough," Baillie Gifford relationship director Kelly Cameron said during a presentation to the board. Portfolio co-presenter Ian Campbell, the firm's chair of the international all-cap investment team, said the strategy continues to pursue a long-term, bottom-up growth approach and that the firm measures success over five-year rolling periods: "we aim to deliver outperformance over ruling 5 year periods."

Why it matters: Baillie Gifford manages roughly 7% of the fund — cited in the meeting as about $66.67 million — and the board and its consultant said they are considering structural changes to the fund's international allocation if the manager-level review and performance do not improve.

What Baillie Gifford told the board

Campbell and Cameron told trustees…