US activist swoops on Scottish Mortgage

An American activist investor known for mounting aggressive boardroom campaigns has become the largest shareholder in one of Britain’s oldest and most popular investment trusts.

Elliott Management, founded by the billionaire Paul Singer, has built a 5 per cent holding in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust worth about £607 million.

The Edinburgh-based investment trust, which has a stock market value of £12.2 billion, was founded in 1909 and caught the attention of retail investors after its early bets on companies such as Amazon and Tesla paid off.

Shares in Scottish Mortgage, which is run by Baillie Gifford, have delivered a return of more than 300 per cent in the past decade. However, performance has been weaker in the past two years as higher interest rates