Ross has co-managed the trust for over six years and has been an investment manager at Baillie Gifford for over 17 years.
In the trust’s annual results published today (15 February), the board thanked Ross for his “significant contribution to SAINTS in recent years”.
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The remaining managers James Dow and Ross Mathison will continue as lead and deputy manager, respectively.
In the financial portion of the results, the £1bn trust reported its share price return was up 8.2% for the year to 31 December 2023, while the net asset value return was 11.8%.
This was an underperformance when compared to its FTSE All-World benchmark, which made 15.7% over the same period.
The board said that the trust’s share price return has been hampered by “broadening of discounts” which it said was “common with investment trusts generally”.
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According to data from the Association of Investment Companies, SAINTS is running on an 8.3% discount.
The trust’s full year dividend was up 2% from 2022, to 3.80p, which is 14.10p per share.
However, the board said the increase in 2023 was “modest” when compared to the 9% rise in 2022, and it does not match the 4% annual rate of inflation. It aims to grow its dividend ahead of inflation over the long-term.
Income held steady at £30m and earnings per share saw only a slight decrease from 13.82p to 13.48p.
“The board remains of the view that a long-term approach based on investing globally for sustainable growth is the best route to achieving SAINTS’s aims,” the trust said.
“In addition, we are encouraged that the managers have continued to find new and attractive opportunities. We retain great confidence in the managers, and this confidence has been further strengthened by the operational performance of SAINTS’ holdings over the past year.”
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