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A SPECIAL THANKSGIVING

23 November 2023

Our Rathbone Global Opportunities Fund manager James Thomson celebrates a phenomenal 20 years at the helm this November. He looks back and wonders about his youthful exuberance.

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Article last updated 22 July 2025.

Being schooled in the ways of America, despite not being American, it’s fitting that I took the reins of my fund in the month of Thanksgiving 20 years ago. It means there’s an annual milestone already etched in my upbringing that encourages me to reflect, give thanks for the blessings I have and take the time to remember what has passed.  

This Thanksgiving is a big one. I have managed my fund for 20 years. In some ways it’s my first born. The fund has grown from under £5 million in 2003 to almost £3.3 billion and returned 880%. It has greatly outperformed its peers, as you can see in the chart below, and is ranked number one in the IA Global sector over that period. Of course, past performance shouldn’t be seen as an indication of future performance, but I am proud of my record over this time and hope to continue delivering in the next 20 years. 

There have been a few big successes over the years. Some of the largest contributors to our fund’s success were buying UK property website Rightmove, international payments giant Visa and ecommerce and cloud-computing business Amazon. We bought all three back in the dark days after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and have held them ever since while they have soared well above their indices. 

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