Strategy. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of companies that Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited, the Funds advisor (Baillie Gifford) determines contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world. The Fund seeks to meet its investment objective by investing in a global portfolio of stocks of companies located in a number of countries throughout the world, including in developed, emerging, and frontier markets. The Fund invests in common and preferred stocks directly, such as through trading on local stock markets around the world, and indirectly, such as through depositary receipts. The Fund is not constrained with respect to market capitalization or industry allocation. The portfolio managers employ … Show more… Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks of companies that Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited, the Funds advisor (Baillie Gifford) determines contribute towards a more sustainable and inclusive world. The Fund seeks to meet its investment objective by investing in a global portfolio of stocks of companies located in a number of countries throughout the world, including in developed, emerging, and frontier markets. The Fund invests in common and preferred stocks directly, such as through trading on local stock markets around the world, and indirectly, such as through depositary receipts. The Fund is not constrained with respect to market capitalization or industry allocation. The portfolio managers employ a bottom-up approach to stock selection and select companies without being constrained by any benchmark or securities index. The portfolio managers focus on company research and the long-term outlook of companies and industries. Ideas can come from a wide variety of sources, including, but not limited to, research trips, company meetings, and relationships with industry thought leaders and academic institutions. Stock ideas are normally researched to assess a range of factors, including: long-term growth potential, geographic and industry positioning, competitive advantage (or attributes that give a company a favorable business position relative to its competitors), management, financial strength and valuation. In parallel, the portfolio managers assess potential holdings contributions to sustainability and inclusiveness, focusing on the ability of companies to deliver positive change in areas including: (1) Social Inclusion and Education, focusing on a more inclusive society and access to and quality of education; (2) Healthcare and Quality of Life, focusing on improving healthcare that affects quality of life; (3) Environment and Resource Needs, focusing on environmental impacts that affect basic resources; and (4) Base of the Pyramid, focusing on addressing the needs of the poorest populations. The portfolio managers assess positive change across these four categories by considering the companys intent, how its products and services contribute to solving a global challenge, and the companys business practices. To measure and report on impact, the portfolio managers monitor the progress of each issuer using metrics and/or milestones specific to each company and selected by Baillie Gifford. The portfolio managers pursue an active, positive approach; investment decisions are generally not made on the basis of negative screening of companies viewed as socially irresponsible. The intended outcome is a portfolio of between 25 and 50 growth companies with the potential to outperform the Funds benchmark over the long term and which the portfolio managers consider to have core ambitions of delivering a positive change. The process can result in significant exposure to a single country or a small number of countries. The Fund is a non-diversified fund, which means that it may invest a relatively large percentage of its assets in a small number of issuers, industries or sectors. The Fund aims to hold securities for long periods (typically 5-10 years), which results in relatively low portfolio turnover and is in line with the Funds long-term investment outlook. The Fund may invest without limitation in securities quoted or denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar and may hold such currencies. The Fund does not expect to engage in currency hedging and thus expects to be fully exposed to currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar. Show less