Extra Material from September 2026 Newsletter

We had some extra text on USA, SMT and WWH that we were unable to fit into the newsletter this week ahead of its publication this coming weekend. We reproduce it below.

We note that Baillie Gifford US Growth (USA, 337p) was one of the two main beneficiaries in the investment trust sector from the big leap in Moderna shares after the news broke of its melanoma cancer breakthrough.  The other was Scottish Mortgage Trust (SMT, 1464p).  Moderna has developed a vaccine that has delivered successful late-stage trial results for delaying the return and spread of cancer in melanoma patients.   Its shares jumped 177% in a single session in response, which was good news for these two trusts.  At the end of June SMT had a 2.2% position in Moderna, although it had slipped down to 1.8% and out of the top ten by the end of July, and USA had a holding of around 1% of assets.

Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH, 389.25p) has announced a change of portfolio manager.  Longstanding manager and OrbiMed co-founder Sven Borho has decided to step down.  WWH’s existing co-manager Trevor Polischuk, an OrbiMed partner who joined the firm in 2003, has assumed the lead role, alongside new co-manager Geoff Hsu, who joined the firm in 2002 and has particular expertise in biotechnology and emerging markets. Both successors have spent more than two decades at OrbiMed and remain supported by its extensive specialist healthcare research platform. The key issue is therefore less a change in investment process than whether the new leadership results in discernible shifts in portfolio construction or sector emphasis, perhaps tilting more towards biotechnology.