In January 2022, Baillie Gifford, one of the UK’s leading independently owned investment management firms, submitted its 13F filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), having shaved 1% of NIO’s share holdings. But still, it holds 88.8584 million NIO’s shares, which is worth $2.814 billion. NIO’s share price dropped by 0.55% as of 24 Jan.
Founded in 1908, Baillie Gifford has been passionate for pre-IPO tech companies. It was an early investor into some of the world’s most influential private companies, such as Amazon, Tesla, Airbnb, Alibaba, and NIO. By January 2021, its investments in Tesla has made a huge $29 billion for investors including pension funds and charities, according to figures released to The Guardian, a British news media. As the biggest external investor two years ago with a 7.7% stake, Baillie Gifford halved Tesla holding to get huge gains.
Baillie Gifford’s timely adjustment of investments in tech companies is shown to be visionary and sensitive to market changes. In 2021, regulatory scrutiny along with the effects brought by the pandemic has shaved off over 50% of Alibaba’s share price. From the second quarter to the end of 2021, Baillie Gifford has continually slashed position in Alibaba ADRs.
On the other hand, Baillie Gifford added position in vaccine maker Moderna, widely known for its successful Covid-19 vaccine. Since the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2018, its share price has gone up more than 20-fold, and it has more than tripled in just a few months – a rapid acceleration of growth that is a lot like Tesla’s rally in 2020. Yet in December of 2020, despite a more than 500% rally in Moderna’s share price, Baillie Gifford took a bold bet and purchased almost £1bn worth of shares.
Compared with other big cuts in its holdings of tech companies, Baillie Gifford’s 1% drop in the exposure to NIO is a moderate move.
