Telfer’s (pictured) successor will be Tim Campbell, who has been with the firm for 25 years and a partner for 12.

Malcolm MacColl, a fellow managing partner, said: “Our independent, private partnership fosters stability and enables us to prioritise our clients’ interests through long-term succession planning while preserving our distinctive culture. Tim’s appointment follows a diligent leadership transition process that has been in motion for some time.”

Amy Atack, fellow managing partner, added: “Andrew’s career has been both long and diverse. As a managing partner, he has been at the heart of the firm’s growth and our strive for excellence in investment, always putting our clients first.”

Andrew Telfer joined Baillie Gifford in 1992 as an investment trainee, becoming an investment manager in the Emerging Markets team before moving to the Clients Department in 2006. He was head of the Clients Department between 2009 and 2011 and became a managing partner and CEO in 2012.

Telfer said: “I’ve had a long and fulfilling career at Baillie Gifford. As I announce my intention to retire next year, I’m extremely confident in Tim’s ability, together with the rest of the partnership, to lead our business into the future.”

“It’s interesting to reflect on how much has changed,” he added. “When I became a managing partner in 2012, the firm managed £77bn mainly for institutional clients. Today, our client base is more varied, and we have offices worldwide.

“Despite our growth, our focus on investment excellence and commitment to our clients hasn’t changed. Tim’s wealth of experience and unwavering motivation are invaluable assets to our firm and clients.”

Campbell began his career at Baillie Gifford in 1999 as an investment trainee, becoming an investment manager in the Emerging Markets Team. In 2007, he moved to the Clients Department, overseeing relationships with clients invested in Emerging Markets strategies. He was made a partner in 2012 and currently chairs the firm’s Management Committee and Group Risk Committee.

The Chinese property sector, which makes up around a quarter of the country’s economy, has been a particular drag on returns over the last year. In January, one of the sector’s leading players, China Evergrande, entered into a forced liquidation.

This was seen in the month’s worst performing individual funds, with the £14.1m Redwheel China Equity, £203.3m Baillie Gifford China, and £5.8m JPM China all among the bottom 10 for returns. Climate strategies, such as Baillie Gifford Climate Optimism and Active Solar also struggled in January.

In contrast, IA North America and Technology were the two best-performing sectors, up 3% and 4.8% respectively.

Ben Yearsley, director at Fairview Investing, said. “These two are so intertwined that it does distort the picture of US equities. Microsoft is again the world’s largest company with a value just under $3trn. But with Apple, Alphabet and Amazon also in the top ten, a tech fund, a Nasdaq tracker, an S&P tracker and a MSCI World tracker look very similar and perform in tandem.”

See also: Global sustainable funds see first quarter of outflows

He added: “The positive equity stories of 2023 all continue with tech, India, and Japan all starting 2024 with a bang. Two of those areas look pretty expensive – then again they almost always do. Japan remains one of the most interesting stories with corporate change and more shareholder awareness helping drive markets. On the other side, China can’t seem to escape the doom loop – Beijing need a big bang to pull markets from historic lows.”

Yearsley pointed out that, for a brief period of time in January, markets regained some confidence after Beijing announced stimulus measures. However this confidence evaporated, with the Hang Seng index finishing the month down by more than 9%.

“Contrast that with Japan where the Topix put on almost 7% – the BoJ has kept the world’s last remaining negative interest rate policy and wants inflation. Despite the excellent returns from Japanese equities many fund managers are confident on future returns and thinking this is just the start of a sustained bull run. The FTSE had a lacklustre start to 2024 falling 1.27%.”

Oxeye Hedged Income was the top performing fund, returning 9.5% in January. Yearsley noted the fund has regularly topped and tailed the monthly performance tables over the past few years.

Jupiter’s India-focused offerings, Jupiter India and Jupiter India Select, both performed strongly by returning 8.7% and 8.3% respectively. The average IA India fund returned 1.8% over the month.

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Dirk Klee will leave his current position as chief executive of wealth management and investments at Barclays UK.

He will then take over a similar role at Switzerland-based firm Bitcoin Suisse, effective from 1 April 2022.

Klee will succeed outgoing chief executive Arthur Vayloyan, who will remain as a member of the board.

Credit Suisse

The Switzerland-headquartered wealth manager has named Joseph Wolf as chief executive of Credit Suisse Financial Services in Israel.

The hire is subject to regulatory approvals and will be effective from 4 April 2022.

He spent the last 14 years at Barclays, where most recently he was deputy director of US equity research in New York.

Quilter Financial Advisers

The advice business of Quilter Financial Planning has recruited Adrian Keane-Munday as national sales director.

He will be responsible for managing and building the firm’s online support hub for advisers and clients, as well as expanding the national advice business.

Keane-Munday was previously at Brooks Macdonald for three years, where he led the financial advice and marketing team.

Deutsche Bank

The international private banking arm of Deutsche Bank has hired Muriel Danis as global head of product platforms and sustainable solutions, effective from 14 March 2022.

She was most recently at HSBC in London, where she served as global chief operating officer in the products and investment groups division of the wealth management business.

Mercer UK

Benoit Hudon has been promoted to president and chief executive of Mercer UK, subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

He succeeds Sylvia Pozezanac, who left the company.

Hudon joined Mercer in 2013, but took on the role of head of the UK wealth business in 2018, a position that he will maintain.

Baillie Gifford

Global investment manager Baillie Gifford promoted Ross Mathison to manager of the Global Income Growth and Responsible Global Equity Income funds.

He started working at the firm in 2019 as an investment manager.

Association of Financial Advisers

The Australian trade body announced that chief executive Helen Morgan-Banda will step down from her position to return to New Zealand.

The AFA’s general manager for policy and professionalism, Phil Anderson, will be taking on the responsibilities, after serving as acting chief executive for six months in 2021.

Kingsley Napley

The law firm Kingsley Napley has hired lawyer Aaron Watkins as co-head of its recently launched international protection practice.

He will join the criminal litigation team led by Louise Hodges and be responsible for developing the international protection practice alongside partner Rebecca Niblock.

Tilney Smith & Williamson

The wealth management group has recruited two people to expand its Exeter office.

Mark Newman and Stephen Read join as financial planners.

Newman was previously a senior financial planner at Kelsall Steel Investment Services, while Read used to work as mergers and acquisitions manager at Succession Wealth.

The Talking Factsheets videos are an innovative way to bring the factsheets to life, combining Square Mile’s independent, qualitative fund research with accessible video content. The aim is to give advisers and financial institutions further depth to their research and help them make informed decisions.

Square Mile typically rate between 250 to 300 funds from a universe of around 2,800 funds. The ratings process is fuelled by a qualitative approach that focuses on the fundamentals: manager and environment, investment philosophy and objectives, investment process, portfolio construction, management of risk and value for money.

Register for free for Square Mile’s Academy of Funds to access all Talking Factsheets.