Edinburgh-based Baillie Gifford, a partnership-owned firm with more than £46bn (€69bn) under management, has enjoyed considerable success with its unconstrained global equities product, Long Term Global Growth.

Since the product was launched in February 2004 it has outperformed its benchmark by 2.5% and over the past two years it has beaten the index by 3.8%. Investors ploughed £1.26bn of new money into the fund in the first nine months of this year, bringing assets to £4.2bn and client numbers to 33 worldwide. The team, led by chief investment officer James Anderson, who takes a hands-on approach to his role, invests in a concentrated portfolio of 40 stocks, with around a quarter of the companies in emerging markets. Unlike many of its rivals, global equities is the manager's main focus. Of its total assets, more than £40bn – or 87% – is in global equities. Some is invested in the UK but much of the £18bn in UK equities is treated as part of wider global mandates, with Baillie Gifford investing in FTSE companies according to their weighting in broader global benchmarks. In keeping with its international approach, many of the firm's clients are based outside the UK. Overseas clients have around £16bn invested with Baillie Gifford, mostly in global equities. Senior figures at the firm include Charles Plowden, the firm's chief of investment staff, and business head Alex Callander, both of whom started their careers at Baillie Gifford. Employment longevity is one of the partnership's selling points. Staff turnover is minimal, with analysts and managers encouraged to show loyalty by the possibility of partnership and associated rewards. Many of the firm's 70 investment staff have been with Baillie Gifford their entire career, according to Neilson. The resulting continuity and long collective memory are important assets. A similar long-term view can been seen in its investment approach. Most shares are typically held for more than five years, compared with an average holding period in the US of less than a year. Unlike some of its larger competitors in global equities, Baillie Gifford houses all its investment staff under the one roof, rather than risk poor communication and loss of information by having different offices working on one global equities product. The company started its investment in overseas equities in 1907, providing capital to rubber plantations and financing projects through private equity-type deals. It has managed the Monks Investment Trust, a global portfolio, since 1929, which has outperformed its benchmark, the FTSE World, by 5.2% over the past three years and by 4.2% over the past five years, according to data from Baillie Gifford, HSBC and WM Company, a performance measurer. It took on US pension fund money 20 years ago, and not withstanding the odd hiccup – the $70bn Wisconsin Investment Board last year fired Baillie Gifford from running a $104m global equities mandate – recent successes are numerous. The fund manager attracted £3.1bn in global equity mandates last year, including wins from Rhonnda Cynon Taf Council with a £330m portfolio, Aberdeen City Council (£290m), Liverpool University (£64m), the San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association ($180m) in the US and the Australian Retirement Fund with a A$100m (€60m) mandate.