By Summer Zhen
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Baillie Gifford, one of the largest asset managers in Europe and a China bull in recent years, increased its holdings of some Chinese growth stocks in its portfolio in the third quarter despite rising policy uncertainty, exchange filings showed.
The Edinburgh-based investment group added 110,737 shares of e-commerce platform Pinduoduo and 50,039 shares of electric vehicle maker NIO Inc during the July to September period, the latest 13F filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed.
Baillie Gifford also sold 7,033,302 shares of Li Auto during the period.
Many money managers minimised their exposure to China ahead of the Communist Party's twice-a-decade congress.
At end-September, Pinduoduo was Baillie Gifford's 12th largest U.S.-listed holding with a market value of $1.77 billion and NIO was the 16th. Its biggest holding was Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).
In an emailed reply to Reuters this week, the public relations representative for Baillie Gifford refused to comment on their latest positions in China, saying the firm does not focus on macro geopolitical issues but rather on the long term opportunities of the companies they are invested in.