Edinburgh-based asset manager Baillie Gifford has made two appointments to support its distribution with financial intermediaries in the US.
Katie Shepardson joins the firm as client relationship director, based in Phoenix, Arizona, while Connor Warren joins as client relationship manager, based in Denver, Colorado.
Warren will support clients across the central and western states while Shepardson will focus on client relationships in the west. They both report to Joseph Stellato, a client director based in New York City.
Currently, 45 per cent of Baillie Gifford’s assets under management are from clients in the US and Canada, invested mostly in international, private and emerging market growth equities.
Baillie Gifford’s US intermediary business is $57 billion AUM (including subadvisor relationships). This has more than doubled from $26 billion since April 2017, when the firm initially launched share classes for the intermediary landscape.
Stellato said: “Expanding our relationship management team across the US brings us closer to intermediary clients. This helps build stronger partnerships so we can support each firm’s unique goals.”
Shepardson has 14 years of financial services experience, joining Baillie Gifford from Polen Capital where she was a senior relationship manager. Prior to this, she was vice president at Marsh & McLennan.
Warren joins from GQG Partners where he was a director of business development. Before that, he was an internal wholesaler at Jackson National.
