sage in the hills
30 Sep 2017
Telegraph ..... James Anderson interview 'Amazon shares can go up four times from here' - £6bn manager who's owned firm for over a decade0 Scottish Mortgage has a near £500m stake in Amazon CREDIT: DAVID RYDER/GETTY James Connington 30 SEPTEMBER 2017 • 8:15AMWhen it comes to risk, most would assume that the main danger is taking too much.James Anderson, manager of the £6bn Scottish Mortgage investment trust, thinks the opposite.His concern is that investors’ portfolios are “wildly over-diversified”, and stuck in “safe” stocks that may be anything but in the future.With his fund, which has big holdings in firms such as Amazon and Tesla, he wants to give exposure to transformative companies that are “genuinely exciting, genuinely growing”.The 108-year-old trust recently entered the FTSE 100 and is one of our Telegraph 25 favourite funds. It has returned 210pc over the past five years. The fund charges 0.44pc a year; there is only one share class. Telegraph Money spoke to Mr Anderson about whether the fund’s size is an issue, and why his holding in Tesla is so controversial.What changes have you made to the fund recently?There has been a recent shift from people questioning companies such as Amazon and Google as investments, to people questioning their dominance and regulation. Now they are recognised as the most dominant companies of our age, other companies are fighting less and are working alongside them. Companies such as Nvidia (a computing firm), which are taking advantage of this have become more prominent in our portfolio.The radical innovation we look for can now also be found beyond these dominant companies.Tesla has become our second largest holding, as its disruptive effect could be huge. We’re all used to whinging that Amazon destroys the high street, but Tesla can destroy the oil industry, car makers and utility firms.We’re never criticised as much as we are for holding Tesla. A hedge fund a week writes to tell us to sell, as many have bet against the stock. Is that what Henry Ford had - a bunch of people trying to short Ford?Electric and autonomous cars are going to happen. I don’t understand why, on a 10 year view, people could be confident in the future of oil. I can’t see that exploring for oil at $60 a barrel will work in the future.Lastly, we have been investing in more private, unquoted companies. Our viewpoint is that much of the next generation of innovation is going to come from thriving unquoted companies, that may or may not go public.Is the fund’s size an issue?No – the last thing we want to be able to do is sell everything in 20 minutes if there’s news on North Korea. Our scale is helpful as unquoted stocks are now effectively choosing their shareholders. The combination of our size, reputation for patience, and the fact we’re well-known globally among technology companies, gives us access to companies other people don’t get access to.How would the fund handle a market downturn?I get flak for having had six or nine difficult months in the financial crisis, but it’s what I feel most proud of, as we stuck to the process. Our companies weren’t just surviving, they were getting stronger, as their competitors were going bust.We may have volatile times, but as long as we believe our companies are enduring, we’re confident, and will keep doing what we’re doing.My biggest fear is not a crash, but that we’re right and innovation becomes so fast it undermines everything else. Those who have “safe” stuff in their portfolio in that scenario will find it’s no longer safe.Use regions/landmarks to skip ahead to chart and navigate between data series.Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust vs benchmark index over 10 yearsLong description.No description available.Structure.Chart type: line chart.The chart has 1 X axis displaying values.The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Total return (%).Chart graphic.Total return (%)Scottish Mortgage I
hanoiboy
30 Sep 2017
Re: Low Yield Capital gains are more tax-efficient for some investors
budu
30 Sep 2017
Re: Low Yield Sorry, 0.71 but still very low.
budu
30 Sep 2017
Low Yield SMT has done well against its benchmark and over time, but why is it so popular when its yield is only 0.17%?
sage in the hills
27 Sep 2017
Re: Premium/Discount ....fair point jim b-rSo is a buy then, at a near discount as suggested.SAGE
jim b-r
26 Sep 2017
Re: Premium/Discount Not sure I quite agree. As far as I know Apple isn't even in SMT's top ten holdings (so will be less than 3% of the trust) and in any case Apple's SP has only declined some 5% from it's all time high. But nervousness about US stocks generally certainly would weigh on SMT - and that might be the broader reason.
Windlesham Don
25 Sep 2017
Re: Premium/Discount I topped up on Friday. I believe that with current market conditions it is a good time to add to quality long term holdings if the opportunity arises, and this IT moving to a discount is a good time IMO. The managers have performed superbly and SMT deserves to trade at a premium because we are buying their expertise at selecting stars of the future. As long as the managers continue to perform then I will be happy to buy at these levels for the long term.As always IMO and DYOR,
sage in the hills
25 Sep 2017
Re: Premium/Discount The weakness in support for the new Apple iphone has a lot to do with this..........weakness in Apple sp holding.SAGE
brownsfriend
25 Sep 2017
Premium/Discount At last trading at a small discount after being at a premium for ages. Investors getting fearful of US valuations perhaps. Good time IMHO to add for LT holders
leftback
03 Jul 2017
Re: I believe roughly tracking NASDAQ and technology shares which dropped last week.
deadcatbounce0nce
03 Jul 2017
any thoughts why the drop ? answers would be appreciated
Slamming Sammy
02 Jun 2017
Re: Scottish Mortgage's search for the Holy ... Reading the accounts, this seems to be a great fund with a long term view! Long may the performance continue!
Ben Alligin
02 Jun 2017
Scottish Mortgage's search for the Holy Grail Grail, the $1 billion cancer detection startup, epitomises what managers of UK's biggest conventional investment trust see as their job: providing long-term capital to innovative companies.High-flying technology ‘unicorns’ are no longer ‘capital light’ businesses like Airbnb and Spotify delaying their stock market flotations, or initial public offers (IPOs), because they don’t need shareholders’ money, says Scottish Mortgage Trust (SMT).The blunt truth is many of the world’s most innovative businesses just don’t like the hassle of battling what Scottish Mortgage’s James Anderson calls ‘quarterly fund manager capitalism’ in the £5.3 billion trust’s annual report.Full story at [link]
Windsor Buffet
29 May 2017
Re: How proactive/reactive are the manag... Don't mistake 'churn' in a fund for the manager taking action in anticipation of market swings. Some managers just do it, and these are generally the not so good ones IMO. I agree with jsan22 in that if you are concerned about the market valuations gently increase your holdings in defensive funds. PNL is my favourite of these although I've got a fair bit in RCP and less so in CGT. I was into Ruffer for a while (the open ended fund) but gave up when he (Ruffer) retired to work at, I think, Durham Cathedral. The absolute key to long term investing is to avoid as much of the carnage in down markets as possible, hence the reasons for the enduring popularity of Woodford (tech bubble and financial crash) and the previous popularity of Bolton at Fidelity.
sage in the hills
23 May 2017
Re: This is ridiculous ........ .....Eadwig...For the record, i am a strong holder of the fund (SMT),and a strong buyer of the fund.(I merely pose the query re how ironic it seems !! 
(Alanis Morrisette )SAGE
