The latest in fund and business developments from across Europe.

Baillie Gifford
Baillie Gifford has been appointed manager of the Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust formerly known as The Witan Pacific Investment Trust. The revamped trust, standing at £236 million, will be managed by Sophie Earnshaw and Roderick Snell; it contains between 40 and 80 listed and unlisted Chinese stocks from across the market spectrum.

Earnshaw currently co-manages the Baillie Gifford China Fund alongside Snell, who also manages the firm's Pacific Fund and is deputy of the Pacific Horizon Investment Trust. At the end of June 2020, the firm had around £44.6 billion invested in both Chinese public and private companies through global and regional funds and trusts. It has a local presence through a research centre in Shanghai.

James Budden, director of retail marketing, said the trust realignment alongside the firm's access to private companies should attract new investors "keen to allocate directly to Chinese equities."

"We see China as a compelling opportunity and a region that increasingly cultivates great companies with incredible franchises domestically and internationally."