The Edinburgh-based asset management firm has appointed a familiar face to head up its Japanese equity fund.

Baillie Gifford has appointed Praveen Kumar as fund manager of the £239 million ($367 million) Japanese Smaller Companies Fund. 

Kumar, who joined Baillie Gifford in 2008 and became an investment manager on the Japanese equities team in 2011, will also assume responsibility for the £160 million Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon investment trust.

He takes over from John MacDougall who has managed both funds for the last eight years. MacDougall will be moving internally to a role managing global equities. MacDougall will work closely with Kumar to ensure a smooth transition of portfolio management responsibilities.

“As a firm we currently manage over £11.3 billion of Japanese equity assets of which over £5 billion sits in Japanese specialist portfolios and have a strong long-term track record in the region based on a team-oriented approach to stock-picking,” said Baillie Gifford's head of Japanese equities, Sarah Whitley.

She said Kumar will be supported by Baillie Gifford’s Japanese equities team, which consists of five investment managers and three analysts.

Baillie Gifford employs almost 900 people and had assets under management and advice of £110.6 billion as of the end of September.