Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust devoted much of its semi-annual report to discussing the prospects of biotech Moderna and rocket launcher SpaceX, two of his investments that have helped increase net asset value over time.
The USA fund,
part of the FTSE 250 MCX,
reported that its net asset value was up 54% from six months to 30 November, bringing total assets to £ 810.3 million, excluding loans it has provided.
The fund said 2021 looked like “the light at the end of the tunnel” as it highlighted its investment in Moderna, which it has held since its 2018 IPO. Moderna’s MRNA,
The COVID-19 vaccine is the first commercial product.
“Success with one drug says nothing about the chance of success with the next. But we can enter a new era for drug development. One of the real platforms, where success leads to success. A cohort of biotechnology companies is emerging, based on fundamental technologies that can be reusable for multiple diseases and disease categories. We think Moderna could be such a company, ”said the fund about Moderna, which makes medicines based on mRNA, the intermediate molecule between DNA and proteins. “We’re going from a world of spaghetti in wall-mounted drug development to something more akin to industrial production.”
The fund has 12% invested in privately held companies such as SpaceX, the rocket and spacecraft builder founded by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk. “SpaceX is innovating at a breathtaking pace. 2020 was the year America sent astronauts to the space station again. SpaceX’s manned mission was a first for a private company. Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite-based high-speed broadband service, is running in beta, with more than 900 satellites orbiting the Earth, providing the Internet to users. And in Texas, SpaceX is rapidly developing its Starship rocket, the vehicle it hopes will take people back to the moon and then to Mars, ”the fund said.
It also had good words for Tesla TSLA,
Musk’s publicly traded electric car company and the fund’s largest holding, accounting for 9.5% of the fund. “On its recent battery day, Tesla has mapped out a path to further halving battery costs. The way we produce, store and consume energy is changing rapidly. For the better. The end of carbon is getting closer, ”the fund said.
The wider FTSE 100 UKX,
was a fraction lower, with limited trading as the US stock exchanges are closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Animal genetics group Genus GNS,
rose after saying that his performance in the fiscal second half ending June 30 will be above previous expectations. The swine genetics unit in China and the bovine genetics units in Brazil, Russia, India and China have seen strong growth, the company said.