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Per David's article, I researched BSGLX and it seems not being available through any of the brokers. I have Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard and none allow to buy/ hold the fund for a "retail investor." Does anyone know if other brokers are allowing purchasing this fund?
I believe that you can buy the fund through Fidelity BUT.....
There is a transaction fee and this alert on the Fidelity site:
"Please call a Fidelity Representative at 1-800-544-6666 to buy this fund."
At least that's the info I received when I searched the fund. Also search (research) the fund by its name and not its ticker symbol. For whatever reason Fidelity acts like it's nonexistent if you use the latter.
For a long time, Morningstar shared complete brokerage availability listings with us each month. With the departure of a really good soul, they reconsidered and cut us off. (An entirely understandable business decision.) As a result, I don't have current availability data.
That said, BG seems to have limited availability. The institutional class shares are more widely available than retail, but even with those there's an inconsistency between my reading of Morningstar and my reading of the actual brokerage sites.
I've reached out to BG's media relations firm, asking about where their funds are distributed and whether the channels might broaden. So far, no response but I intend to poke again tomorrow.
I purchased Baillie Gifford's 'The Emerging Markets Fund Instl' (BGEGX) from Fidelity on 01/02/2019. The following Baillie Gifford funds (and possibly others) were available from Fidelity as of 01/31/2019:
International EAFE Choice Fund EAFE Fund Class I EAFE Pure Fund International Equity Global Select Equity Positive Change Global Alpha Equity Long Term Global Emerging Markets U.S. Equity Growth
Fidelity's 'Mutual Funds Research' tool did not include these Baillie Gifford funds one or two months later. I assumed issues arose with the distribution agreement.
Allowab (non-advisory) Fidelity Institutional FundsNetwork Cetera Advisor Networks LLC Morgan Stanley Select UMA Cetera Advisor Networks LLC- PAM, PRIME, Premier Raymond James Cetera Advisors LLC- PAM, PRIME, Premier Raymond James WRAP Eligible Cetera Financial Specialists LLC- Premier Schwab All (Retail, Instl, Retirement) Commonwealth (PPS Access Program) Schwab Institutional Commonwealth (PPS/Advisory) Schwab Institutional Only Commonwealth Universe TD Ameritrade Institutional
I believe that you can buy the fund through Fidelity BUT.....
There is a transaction fee and this alert on the Fidelity site:
"Please call a Fidelity Representative at 1-800-544-6666 to buy this fund."
At least that's the info I received when I searched the fund. Also search (research) the fund by its name and not its ticker symbol. For whatever reason Fidelity acts like it's nonexistent if you use the latter.
I called fidelity and they said it was not available to retail folks at this time, only institutions. Even though I hold other institutional shares at fidelity I had no luck on Baillie Gifford.
This fund has an average p-e ratio of 45 according to Morningstar. I would be very curious to see how it performs in a rising interest rate environment.
For those with a Vanguard account, Baillie Gifford co-manages VWILX (Admiral shares). Although the fund has underperformed the last 6 months (probably China holdings) it does have an outstanding long term record.
We have had the discussion on Baillie Gifford awhile back. @msf provided a detailed analysis on Baillie Gifford investment approaches. For retail investors, there are two vehicles available:
Vanguard International Growth, VWILX. Baillie Gifford managed by BG 2/3 of the fund and Schroeder manages the other 1/3. BG side uses a concentrated approach sizable exposure to emerging market, particularly China. Plus side is low expense ratio. This fund is available as a transaction fee fund with Fidelity.
Harbor International Growth, HAIGX, more diversified approach with a different set of BG fund managers. Institutional share, $50K min and transaction fee required.
The two Schroeder managers on VWILX comprise the management for SCIEX. The three B-G managers on VWILX are the three longest tenure (of five) managing BGESX. One of those, Anderson, also co-managed BSGLX from inception until a year ago.
So if I were to try to gauge VWILX based on its management, I'd compare it to a 70/30 mix of BGESX (not BSGLX) and SCIEX. That's important because BSGLX is a global fund (slightly over half is domestic), while the other funds are foreign: BGESX 94% foreign, SCIEX 96%, and VWILX 86%.
I ran a quick instant X-ray with 50% VWILX, 35% BGESX, and 15% SCIEX and looked at stock intersections. It pretty well verified that VWILX is close to a 70/30 mix of the other two funds. A couple of notable stocks that VWILX has that the others don't are Moderna (MRNA) and Tesla (TSLA).
Independent of which funds VWILX is approximating, its high allocation to Chinese stocks doesn't seem to be the root of its relative underperformance. BSGLX has a 25% stake in China (virtually all its Asian holdings) and has done far better YTD than VWILX, which has "only" 17.6% in China.
Since these funds are in different categories, it helps additionally to note that VWILX's China holdings are about 10% above its peers (i.e. its peers hold 7.7%), while BGSLX's China holdings are a whopping 20% above its peers. Each fund ranks around 80th percentile in its respective category YTD.
Comments
There is a transaction fee and this alert on the Fidelity site:
"Please call a Fidelity Representative at 1-800-544-6666 to buy this fund."
At least that's the info I received when I searched the fund. Also search (research) the fund by its name and not its ticker symbol. For whatever reason Fidelity acts like it's nonexistent if you use the latter.
That said, BG seems to have limited availability. The institutional class shares are more widely available than retail, but even with those there's an inconsistency between my reading of Morningstar and my reading of the actual brokerage sites.
I've reached out to BG's media relations firm, asking about where their funds are distributed and whether the channels might broaden. So far, no response but I intend to poke again tomorrow.
More soon,
David
The following Baillie Gifford funds (and possibly others) were available from Fidelity as of 01/31/2019:
International
EAFE Choice Fund
EAFE Fund Class I
EAFE Pure Fund
International Equity
Global Select Equity
Positive Change
Global Alpha Equity
Long Term Global
Emerging Markets
U.S. Equity Growth
Fidelity's 'Mutual Funds Research' tool did not include these Baillie Gifford funds one or two months later.
I assumed issues arose with the distribution agreement.
Brokerage Availability BSGLX
Allowab (non-advisory)
Fidelity Institutional FundsNetwork
Cetera Advisor Networks LLC
Morgan Stanley Select UMA
Cetera Advisor Networks LLC- PAM, PRIME, Premier
Raymond James
Cetera Advisors LLC- PAM, PRIME, Premier
Raymond James WRAP Eligible
Cetera Financial Specialists LLC- Premier
Schwab All (Retail, Instl, Retirement)
Commonwealth (PPS Access Program)
Schwab Institutional
Commonwealth (PPS/Advisory)
Schwab Institutional Only
Commonwealth Universe
TD Ameritrade Institutional
Vanguard International Growth, VWILX. Baillie Gifford managed by BG 2/3 of the fund and Schroeder manages the other 1/3. BG side uses a concentrated approach sizable exposure to emerging market, particularly China. Plus side is low expense ratio. This fund is available as a transaction fee fund with Fidelity.
Harbor International Growth, HAIGX, more diversified approach with a different set of BG fund managers. Institutional share, $50K min and transaction fee required.
So if I were to try to gauge VWILX based on its management, I'd compare it to a 70/30 mix of BGESX (not BSGLX) and SCIEX. That's important because BSGLX is a global fund (slightly over half is domestic), while the other funds are foreign: BGESX 94% foreign, SCIEX 96%, and VWILX 86%.
I ran a quick instant X-ray with 50% VWILX, 35% BGESX, and 15% SCIEX and looked at stock intersections. It pretty well verified that VWILX is close to a 70/30 mix of the other two funds. A couple of notable stocks that VWILX has that the others don't are Moderna (MRNA) and Tesla (TSLA).
Independent of which funds VWILX is approximating, its high allocation to Chinese stocks doesn't seem to be the root of its relative underperformance. BSGLX has a 25% stake in China (virtually all its Asian holdings) and has done far better YTD than VWILX, which has "only" 17.6% in China.
Since these funds are in different categories, it helps additionally to note that VWILX's China holdings are about 10% above its peers (i.e. its peers hold 7.7%), while BGSLX's China holdings are a whopping 20% above its peers. Each fund ranks around 80th percentile in its respective category YTD.
Mona