The Edinburgh-headquartered firm, which manages assets worth £200 billion, confirmed that an internal consultation process is under way.

The restructuring is driven by a global decline in traditional final salary, or defined benefit (DB), pension schemes. This shift requires a new approach to marketing services, with a greater focus on the intermediary market and individual savers.

Chris Murphy, a partner at the firm, stressed that the changes were part of a strategic realignment rather than a “broad cost-cutting exercise”. He highlighted that the firm was simultaneously pursuing “huge opportunities for growth” in the United States, Europe, and Asia, evidenced by the recent opening of an office in Singapore.

While confirming that some roles were at risk of redundancy before Christmas, Mr Murphy emphasised the company’s focus on internal mobility. In the past year, 132 employees have changed roles within the firm and 61 new staff have been hired.

“The client base is not standing still,” Mr Murphy stated, “therefore, it’s important that we’re an adaptable and dynamic organisation”. He acknowledged the difficulty of the decision, adding that it “sits heavily with us as partners”.

Mr Murphy attributed Baillie Gifford’s stability and success to its structure as a private partnership. This model, he explained, allows the firm to adopt a long-term investment strategy, free from short-term market pressures. This approach has underpinned successful, long-held investments in companies such as Nvidia, Amazon, and Tesla.

Founded in Edinburgh in 1908, the firm plans for strategic growth by enabling its 1,600 international staff “to be nimble with their careers”.