Key points:
- Scottish Mortgage (SMT) shares have fallen 12.74% in one week.
- The decline cannot be directly linked to James Anderson's departure.
- The fund is in good hands under Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns.
The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (LON: SMT) share price has fallen 12.74% in the first week after James Anderson left the fund under the leadership of Tom Slater and Lawrence Burns amid a broad selloff in the growth stocks preferred by the fund.
Also read: The Best Financial Stocks To Buy Right Now.
James Anderson left Scottish Mortgage at the end of April as planned, with the fund now being led by Tom Slater as the fund managed and Lawrence Burns as the deputy fund manager. Slater had been deputy fund manager working under Anderson since 2015, with many expecting him to maintain the same investment philosophy championed by his former boos.
However, not much is known about Lawrence Burns, who joined Baillie Gifford, the fund that owns SMT, in 2009, after graduating with a Geography degree from the University of Cambridge. Burns started out working in the firm’s emerging markets and UK equity teams before joining the International Growth portfolio construction group in 2012, led by Anderson.
Lawrence became the deputy chair of the construction group in 2019 after James Anderson took on the chair role leaving the funds' daily operations under Burns's leadership. This was an influential role since the International Growth strategy manages assets worth £58 billion.
Burns was also co-manager of the Vanguard International Growth fund, which has assets worth $71bn (£51bn), shared between Baillie Gifford and Schroders. Therefore, Burns's appointment as deputy fund manager should not surprise investors, given his past roles.
SMT share price performance.
SMT shares have broken below the crucial 830p support level highlighted in my last article on the fund, with the shares now headed towards the next support level at 753p. If the shares break below 753p, the next support level is 638p, tested in February and April 2020, shortly before and after the March 2020 crash.
I expect SMT shares to encounter significant support at this level; they could bounce back and even reverse course and start rallying higher.
*This is not investment advice. Always do your due diligence before making investment decisions.
SMT share price.
SMT shares are down 12.74% in the first week of May as the new managers take over. What’s next?