Baillie Gifford Global Stewardship Fund

Colonial First State (CFS), through its alliance with global fund manager Baillie Gifford, has made the Baillie Gifford Global Stewardship Fund available to Australian retail investors.

The fund invests in a global portfolio of responsible growth businesses. It is an active, long-only fund with a fundamental, benchmark agnostic, growth bias style. It invests in between 70 and 100 companies and suggests an investment time frame of at least five years.

"We believe good governance and stewardship are vital to the long-term success and growth of a company," general manager of investments at Colonial First State, Scott Tully, said.

"Interest in responsible and sustainable investing has continued to grow amongst investors and the industry. We believe Baillie Gifford's investment approach and active engagement with companies on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, as well as on a company's strategic direction, corporate culture, and shareholder alignment, will ensure sound long-term performance for investors."

The fund's strategy was originally launched in the UK in 2015, where it has delivered a net return of 5.7% per annum above the MSCI All Country World Index benchmark (as at 30 June 2019).

It has a minimum investment amount of $25,000.