Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust names new chair in boardroom shake-up

(Reuters) -Britain's largest investment trust, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (SMT), named a new chair on Tuesday, seeking to draw a line under a board dispute following an almost halving in its share price last year.

SMT, one of asset manager Baillie Gifford's flagship trusts and an investor in big U.S. tech stocks such as Tesla, Amazon and Netflix, said senior independent director Justin Dowley would become its new chair, replacing Fiona McBain, who has led the board for six years.

It also said non-executive director Amar Bhide had left the board and was no longer a director, days after SMT refuted a media report that Bhide had been asked to resign.

The Financial Times reported last week that Bhide's resignation had been requested after what he said was a disagreement over the appointment of new board members.

The report cited Bhide, a director of SMT since 2020, as saying he had clashed with McBain over the process to appoint two new board members, and his assessment of the risks posed by the trust's investments in unquoted companies.

SMT saw its share price decline by about 46% in 2022 due to higher interest rates and inflation.

Bhide did not immediately respond to a Reuters request on LinkedIn for a comment. SMT declined to say whether Bhide had resigned or was removed from the board.

Dowley, 67, was appointed a director at SMT in 2015 and is also the non-executive chairman of Melrose Industries Plc.

He will take over as chair at the end of the 2023 annual general meeting (AGM), expected to be held in June.

Under McBain, 61, SMT began investing in more private companies, seeking to balance its investment strategy.

SMT also said Patrick Maxwell would succeed Dowley as the senior independent director and Paola Subacchi would retire as a director.

SMT shares were up 0.6% in Tuesday morning trade.

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mark Potter)