Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust – All You Need To Know

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust (listed on the London Stock Exchange as SMT) is an old and revered publicly traded investment trust from the UK. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust focuses on finding out strong businesses and invests globally with significantly above-average returns. 

Baillie Gifford & Co Limited, an investment management partnership based in Edinburgh, Scotland, manages the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is a part of the FTSE 100 Index and publicly trades through its listing in the London Stock Exchange.  

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s History

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s origins lie in the Panic of 1907, a major credit crisis. During the early 1900s, Henry Ford’s Model T had given wheels to the general public. In the year 1909, the increasing popularity of the motorcar increased the demand for tyres. The rubber plantation owners of Southeast Asia were keen to exploit this growing demand. However, credit was still very difficult to obtain. A newly formed legal partnership between Colonel Augustus Baillie and Carlyle Gifford (which ultimately became Baillie Gifford & Co) in Edinburgh, spotted an opportunity. They quickly formed The Straits Mortgage and Trust Company Limited to and started lending money to the planters, using the estates themselves as security. 

The credit crisis ended within the next two years, and the rubber plantations were no longer in need of large scale financing from Straits Mortgage. As a result, the Trust widened its investment remit to include global bond and equity markets. In the year 1913, the Trust’s name was changed to The Scottish Mortgage and Trust Company Limited. 

The official company excerpt says:

“By 1913 it was obvious the future of the trust lay in operating as a normal investment trust – that is to say, one which invested in a broad range of securities, very largely overseas, as was typical of Scottish investment trusts of the period, with a strong bias towards North America – rather than the Rubber plantation specialist that had originally been envisaged. In recognition of this, the Board decided to change its name to “The Scottish Mortgage and Trust Limited”; this change of name received official approval on 31 May 1913.” 

Early investments of the firm were a reflection of the rapid global industrialisation that characterised the period, including shares in oil and railway companies, along with loans to the Ottoman, Indian, Chinese and Argentine governments. 

The portfolio of Scottish Mortgage has featured North American investments from early on. These investments were substantially augmented during the mid 1930s with the proceeds from European investments which were sold because of the worsening political situation. By the year 1940, 22 percent of the firm’s portfolio was invested in American names. Soon, Scottish Mortgage was forced to sell and repatriate all of its American securities because of a British Government mandate. This formidable exercise was overseen by Carlyle Gifford. US based holdings fell to 6.6 percent by 1942 and would not see a substantial increase till the 1950s. The proportion invested in the US fell to 6.6 per cent by 1942, not to be rebuilt until the 1950s. In 1957, the chairman noted, “…we have over 44 per cent of our assets…in USA and Canada. Indeed, a higher proportion would have been even better”.

During the 60s, the Trust was among the first to jump on the Japanese Market as a result of the lifting of restrictions on foreign investment. While it was a good business decision, it was also controversial because of fresh war time memories.

The UK allocation of the invested amount also varied during this time. In the 70s, the UK bonds and equities fell to 45 percent from 63 percent in 1972.  The decline was a reflection of the falls of the British stock market. It also reflected a pre-meditated move away from Great Britain. The chairman expressed his exasperation through this statement: “The fact is that this country has got itself into a really dreadful mess… We continue to have more confidence in investment prospects overseas than in the UK”.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s Dividends

1933 was the first and only time that Scottish Mortgage cut its dividend. This was caused by the ravaging of the portfolio because of the Great Depression. Every other year except 1933, Scottish Mortgage either maintained its dividend or boosted it. In 1942, the chairman wrote about the understatement of “some important adverse influences… Our revenue has suffered from the almost complete stoppage of dividends from the invaded areas.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust: Present Day

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust completed 100 successful years in 2009. Its investments continue to reflect the global-nature of the firm. Its holdings exist in rapidly developing economies such as Brazil and China. As of 30 September 2018, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s net assets are worth £7.6 billion and it continues to inspire firms like Wealthface which can help build assets at a smaller scale and help people fulfil goals such as retiring at the age of 50.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust: Portfolio evolution over the last 12 months

On the surface there has been little change in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s portfolio in the last 12 months. Of the top thirty holdings last year Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust still owns 28. The two that the trust has sold, BASF and Svenska Handelsbanken, have been replaced because the opportunities opening up to the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust in the unquoted realm seem to offer more compelling growth potential rather than out of disappointment at their conduct of affairs. Amongst Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s top ten quoted stocks, which exert a crucial influence given that they sum to just over half of the assets, the sole change has been the rise of Netflix at the cost of Baidu. The former has been driven by stock outperformance whilst Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has reduced Baidu as, for once, the Trust shares the market concern that the group is squandering broader opportunities in the Chinese internet in the desire for unduly tight managerial controls.

But beneath the apparent stability there has been a step change in  commitment to venture capital, which the Trust believe matters considerably for its future prospects, deeply differentiates Scottish Mortgage from its peers and requires nuanced explanation. Given that the percentage of assets in Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s unquoted equities has only increased from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and the attention the Trust paid to reporting on these assets at the half-year stage, it may appear that the Trust is becoming excessively focused on this segment but this underestimates its structural importance. Currently 34 per cent of the assets started out as investments in private companies, even if some of those are now public. Up until now the Trust has been reluctant to stress this area too heavily because its own education in venture capital was incomplete. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has now become more convinced in its abilities and advantages in this comparatively new and different area. In fact, the Trust is thrilled with what it has learnt. The opportunity is greater than initially perceived. It’s the Trust’s responsibility to take advantage of this favourable combination of circumstances.

The starting point is that the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has outstanding access to unquoted companies across the world. This may be illustrated by some of its new purchases in the last 12 months. The only unquoted holding amongst its top ten overall is Ant Financial, which amongst other attributes runs both Alipay, the largest global mobile payments platform and Yu’e Bao, the world’s largest money market fund. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s access came about through its faithful ownership of Ant’s parent Alibaba from the days it too was a private company. Similarly the recent purchase of a holding in SpaceX would have been unimaginable without the Trust’s patient, controversial and unashamed backing of Tesla. Perhaps there is a need to move on from pride in being a rare truly global fund to embarrassment at being so limited in ambitions.

But lest it be thought that the unquoted portfolio is solely a reflection of the Trust’s committed ownership of public companies it may be worth citing another area where the Trust has substantially increased its exposure in the past year. This is the crossover between genomics and large scale, but individual, data observation in healthcare. Although Flatiron, one of the Trust’s initial forays in this direction, was purchased by Roche in early 2018, its continued progress illustrates the reality of clinical utility in this area. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust has added holdings in Tempus and Recursion that are emblematic of accelerated efforts and medical hope through such techniques.

The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s purpose in unquoted equities goes further than obtaining access to a new universe of opportunity for its shareholders. The Trust is doing so at a cost that is structurally lower than that available elsewhere. The Trust asks no higher fee for incorporating unquoted equities. The overall ongoing charges of 0.37 per cent compares with a still normal level of 2 per cent and 20 per cent carried interest for venture capital funds. This matters to both the trust and the shareholders. 

The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s appeal to companies is equally distinctive. Most venture capitalists demand an exit as their funds near the end of their ten-year life. In turn many companies seek to go public to satisfy this need for liquidity. The Trust feels no need to encourage companies to move to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) prematurely. But if an IPO is the eventual outcome then the Trust’s preference, subject to business progress, is to buy more shares at that stage both for Scottish Mortgage and frequently for other portfolios managed by Baillie Gifford that are unable to make investments until a company is public.

This willingness to own companies regardless of their status as private for the long term, on the verge of an IPO, or as fully fledged public companies is a cornerstone of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust’s policy. As per the Trust, it is a damaging narrowing of the necessarily limited opportunity set of potentially great growth stocks to confine itself to public companies at a time when the necessity to be quoted is unclear and the pressures of being so all too evident.

As owners, the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust is structurally neutral as to the best status whilst listening to the arguments for each unique company in which we invest. Whatever the conclusion, the Trust tries to bring attitudes more typical of venture capitalism to all of its investments. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust believes that patient support – especially at the inevitable moments of struggle – is better than hurried exit. The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust believes that its success in quoted as well as unquoted stocks will continue to be dependent on a small number of extreme winners rather than a parade of the slightly above average.

MC Wiley Calls Ed Sheeran and Drake ‘Culture Vultures’ on BBC’s 1Xtra

MC Wiley, who is famously known as the ‘Godfather of Grime’ has suddenly taken up arms against global superstars Ed Sheeran and Drake. Wiley appeared on BBC’s 1Xtra and pulled no punches in his criticism of Sheeran and Drake. However, Wiley is well known for engaging in such endeavours whenever he is about to release a new album.

Speaking to the 1Xtra’s host Dotty, Wiley started off by quoting one of Sheeran’s most successful songs: “I’m mad at Ed Sheeran because he said ‘You need me man, I don’t need you’.

But Ed, the other day mate, you had to use grime to tip your song over the edge.”

Wiley was referencing the remix to Take Me Back to London – which was produced by fabled grime producer and DJ Sir Spyro and featured famous grime artists such as Stormzy, Jaykae and Aitch. The Ed Sheeran remix also reached number one on the chart.

Wiley continued his angry rant: “Listen, we helped that guy get into the picture. I done something for him – ‘You’. It’s on his album, isn’t it? So when I went to do my one I was told, ‘You can’t do this, Ed can’t do the video. You can’t use Ed’, basically.

“He didn’t want to stand up to his label – he folded.

“I knew life wasn’t fair, but I didn’t know it was this unfair.

“Everyone thinks I’m mad. I’m not mad. I’m not mad – Ed Sheeran knows what I’m talking about.”

He added: “When Ed wants to do something that’s OK. But when we want to do something with Ed? We can’t.”

Wiley also went on to mention the numerous artists whose songs Ed Sheeran has allegedly ripped off to become one of the biggest music artists in the world today. Wiley said: “Listen, Ed Sheeran – you are a culture vulture and I’m not listening to you anymore. I’ve listened to you rip off Marvin Gaye, I’ve listened to you rip off everything. I see you do a tune the other day with Justin Bieber that sounds like a tune from Sting. No-one is not saying nothing about that though. So I’m not listening. I’m finished with these people. I swear to God.”

BBC Top Gear Co-Host Freddie Flintoff Returns to Filming After Horrific Crash

Top Gear co-host and former English International Cricketer Freddie Flintoff suffered a horrific crash while shooting a drag race for the show’s upcoming 28th season. However, despite the apparent severity of the crash, Flintoff emerged unscathed and has returned to the set for filming.

Freddie Flintoff has assured fans that he is completely fine after being involved in a devastating accident on set.

The horrific crash happened while Flintoff was driving a super-powered Time Bandit during a drag race for an upcoming segment at the Elvington Airfield earlier this week. Flintoff went over the limit as he overshot the runway and skidded on the grass nearby.

The Mirror reported that Flintoff was examined by the medical team inside an on-set ambulance and he was cleared to resume filming the show on Wednesday.

Flintoff opened up about the crash. He said: “I’m absolutely fine and was back filming today. I go to great lengths to make sure I do well in Top Gear drag races but on this occasion I went a few lengths too far.”

When asked about how dangerously close he was to a major accident, Flintoff said: “It will look more ridiculous than dangerous when you see it on TV.”

Co-incidentally, Elvington Airfield is the same place where former Top Gear and current Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond suffered his horrific accident in 2006. Hammond was driving a jet-powered car at 288 miles per hour when he lost control and the car overturned and tumbled on the grass around the runway. Hammond’s injuries were severe, including brain damage. However, he made a complete recovery and returned to the show. In his own words, the only difference in Hammond’s life as a result of the accident was the fact that he ‘liked celery after the crash and he didn’t before’.

Hammond went on to have another serious crash in 2017 when he drove his Rimac supercar off the side of a hill in Switzerland. Luckily, he survived that too.

A spokesperson from the BBC also spoke about Flintoff’s crash: “As viewers of the recent series will have seen, Freddie is often keen to get ‘off the beaten track’

Tuesday’s filming at Elvington Airfield was no exception – but he suffered no injuries as a result of his spontaneous detour, as fans will see for themselves when we show the sequence in full in the next series.“

Top Gear returns with a Christmas Special later this year. The regular 28th season will follow the special.

York Minster is Selling Historic Organ Pipes for Raising Refurbishment Funds

The York Minster’s grand organ’s pipes are being auctioned online to raise funds for the instrument’s refurbishment. The refurbishment cost is expected to be around £2 million and the auction is expected to generate enough money for it.

The grand organ’s 30 pipes date from the early part of the 19th century. They were constructed when a new organ was built after the old one was destroyed in a church arson attack. The pipes have stayed silent for over the last 100 years though.

When the “once-in-a-century” refurbishment is complete, 70 pipes of the grand organ will be restored and it will be back in ‘musical use’.

The grand organ’s case has had pipes around it since 1832 and the initial attempt was to repair and refurbish all of them. However, 30 pipes were found to be in a state which was beyond repair. The only thing that could be done was replace them with new ones.

The 20 ton organ, along with its 5,043 pipes has been removed from the minster for the repair work. The refurbishment process will include replacement of the organ’s mechanism and general intensive cleaning.

70 pipes are undergoing restoration in a chapel at the minster. Graining and marbling specialists are working hard at it. The restored pipes will also feature distinctive gold, green, red, and cream decorations of the original.

The grand organ will return to the minster early next year and will be back in use by autumn of 2020.

Neil Sanderson, director of the York Minster Fund, said: “The auction is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own a piece of York Minster’s musical heritage, while supporting the future of organ music at the cathedral throughout the 21st century and beyond.

Although, where possible, we have tried to retain and refurbish the instrument’s original features, unfortunately around 30% of the case pipes were beyond economic repair.

Three of these pipes will be kept in our historic collection as a record of the instrument but the remaining 30 are being offered for auction to raise funds towards the once-a-century refurbishment project.”

The auction of the pipes runs until September 27th.

Mystery Illness Killing Dogs in Norway

Hundreds of dogs all over Norway have been sickened by a mysterious and potentially contagious bowel disease that has even turned fatal in some cases. Norwegian dog owners have been advised to keep their pets from socializing with each other for the time being as reports of this mysterious disease continue to pile up.

According to a representative from AniCura Norge, a veterinary hospital in Oslo, the death toll for the dogs had risen to 26 by Tuesday.

Norwegian Food Safety released a statement which said that the post-mortem examinations haven’t been able to provide conclusive answers. As mysterious as the cause of the illness might be, the symptoms are present all over the country. Dogs have had prolonged phases of diarrhoea, vomiting and fatigue as a result of that. As per Norway’s Veterinary Institute, 200 dogs have suddenly fallen sick.

The initial reports started reaching the Norwegian Food Safety Authority from veterinarians in the capital, Oslo. Soon, reports from Bergen in the west coast and Nordland from the northern region of the country also started coming in.

As per a statement released by the Food Safety Authority on Tuesday: “A mixed culture of two types of bacteria, Providencia alcalifaciens and Clostridium perfringens, was found in some dogs’ guts. The bacteria are sometimes associated with diarrhea in people as well as dogs. But we can’t conclude that these are the cause of the symptoms we see.

One of the other causes theorized by the investigators connects the disease with the unusually large number of wild mushrooms growing this year. Along with parasite infection, the wild mushroom theory is still under consideration by the Food Safety Authority.

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute has ruled out Salmonella and rat poison as a possible cause of the disease.

Sadly, the medium of spread of the disease has still not been discovered. In fact, researchers are still not sure whether the disease is even contagious, or whether all the sick dogs are showing symptoms of the same disease.

Nonetheless, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has advised pet owners to avoid letting their dogs near “dressage courses, exhibitions, hunting trials and the like” until more information is released through the investigation.

Hamar resident Torstein Holten talked about her seven year old dog Lexi. She told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Lexi was perfectly healthy when she went for a run last week. However, she started vomiting and was stricken with diarrhoea the very next day.

She was taken to a veterinarian last Thursday who advised the family to bring Lexi back in case her symptoms worsened. Sadly, Lexi passed away the next morning.

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute has circulated a questionnaire among veterinarians throughout the country to try and get to the root of the mystery illness affecting Norway’s dogs.

Fortunately, no human being has been affected by this disease so far.

Google Blew iPhone Hacking Report ‘Out of Proportion’: Apple

Last week’s Google’s Project Zero’s report has firmly placed Apple on the defensive. Google’s researchers said that iOS was constantly being targeted with a sophisticated attack for two years. Until Google alerted Apple, the attacks didn’t stop. However, Apple has come out in its defence and claimed that Project Zero blew the whole thing out of proportion.

Project Zero is a group at Google whose speciality lies in uncovering zero-day hacks that threaten internet users. According to that group, a large number of websites deployed hacks to install malware that could gain root access on the iPhone. With those hacks, those sites’ operators stole date, phone location and gained access to the end user’s password storage as well. According to Google: “The attacks operated over a period of at least two years and covered almost every version of iOS active during that time”

A press release released by Apple disputed parts of Google’s findings. The main point of contention was the duration of the attack. Instead of the two years as per Google’s Project Zero report, Apple claimed that the attacks only lasted for two months. According to Apple, the company was familiar with those flaws and working towards fixing them. However, this claim is impossible to verify and sounds quite suspect.

According to Apple, the attacks were mainly focused on the Uyghurs, Western China’s group of ethnically Turkic Muslims. The Uyghurs have been constantly persecuted by the Chinese Government for years now. Their religious beliefs in an officially atheist country has been a major source of conflict with the Chinese Government. Methods like iPhone hacks have been regularly used by the Chinese Government to track and investigate the Uyghurs.

Even though Google’s Project Zero is renowned for conducting its business without favouritism, Apple has suggested that Google has tried to make the flaws seem much worse than they actually are. Responding to Apple’s criticism, Project Zero issued a statement where it stood by its “in-depth research which was written to focus on the technical aspects of these vulnerabilities.”

With a new iPhone scheduled to be unveiled this week, Apple is understandably acting more sensitive than usual. Unlike Android’s open source system, Apple’s closed software helps it patch vulnerabilities and weaknesses without everyone knowing about it. Perhaps a major flaw in such a closed system has embarrassed Apple too much to accept it openly.

Pretty Woman: The Musical to Open in London West End in 2020

Pretty Woman: The Musical is set to hit the UK’s shores in 2020. London’s fabled West End will be the venue where the musical will be performed.

The musical is based on the 1990 smash hit Pretty Woman. The film starred Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and is beloved by fans today as well. The performances will begin from the month of February at the Piccadilly Theatre.

Pretty Woman was a hit on Broadway and closed its highly successful run last month. Manx actress and singer Samantha Barks made her Broadway debut by playing the lead character of Vivian last summer.

The movie that the musical is based on, features the story of Vivian, a prostitute played by Julia Roberts who is hired by a rich businessman played by Richard Gere. Even though he solicits the services of a sex worker, Gere’s character spends more time with her as a companion rathed than a sexual partner. Eventually, they fall in love and get together despite their extremely dissimilar backgrounds.

Aside from the endearing performances by its lead cast members, Pretty Woman is also fondly remembered for the memorable songs featured in it. The movie featured original songs from Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance. Screenwriter J.F. Lawton and director Garry Marshall also wrote a book of the same title. Jerry Mitchell, the director of Legally Blonde and Kinky Boots directed and choreographed the Broadway show.

Oh, Pretty Woman, the famous song by Roy Orbison which inspired the name of the movie, is also featured in the musical.

The set design of the musical is provided by David Rockwell while Gregg Barnes has designed the costume. Philip S. Rosenberg and Kenneth Posner are incharge of lighting while the sound design is done by John Shivers. All of that is smartly orchestrated by Will Van Dyke. The casting for the UK version of the show is yet to be announced.

The show’s curtains will raise on Valentine’s Day 2020. General sale of tickets is scheduled to start from September 13th. Priority access pre-sale tickets are available as of today as well. Book yours here.

The UK Stands on the Brink of a Major Opioid Crisis

A recent health study has revealed that an astonishingly alarming number of British adults have been hooked on to highly addictive prescription opioids.

An astonishing one in eight Britons is dependent on prescription drugs and a total of five million adults receive prescription painkillers every year. With fears of an American level opioid crisis, an inquiry was initiated to gauge the scale of the opioid use in the UK. The country’s opioid usage rate is growing at the third fastest rate in the world.

The Sunday Times reported that Health Secretary Matt Hancock was shocked by the findings which revealed that over 40 million prescriptions for opioid-based prescription painkillers are being issued all over across the UK.

Opioid based pills are only supposed to be consumed for a few days or weeks at most. However, then Public Health England investigation revealed that over 540,000 Britons have consumed opioids for over three years.

Speaking about the findings, Health Secretary Hancock said: “We have seen the devastation opioid addiction has caused in America and I am determined to tackle it head on before it goes any further here. Painkillers have an important role in pain management, but when not used properly they can destroy lives.”

Earlier this year, Health Secretary Hancock had also talked about plans of introducing cigarette style warning labels on opioid based painkiller packets as a way to tackle painkiller addiction.

Creation of a set of guidelines for General Practitioners on prescribing opioids and how to ease patients off them have been announced by The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence watchdog. However, medical organisations and patients have insisted that a lot more must be done in that field.

The PHE is expected to reveal the extent of dependency on other prescription drugs as well. These drugs include anti-anxiety medications as well. A set of  recommendations to tackle the issue will also be released. 

Dr Andrew Green of the British Medical Association said: “We need significant investment in support services to enable patients and GPs to manage dependencies.”

Dr. Green also added that there was an urgent need for helping patients who are struggling with prescription medication addiction. 

Opioids are some of the most powerful pain-management medications available today. They produce morphine-like effects and are used for the management of moderate to severe pain. Opioids work by blocking the pain signals travelling between the brain and the body. Some of the commonly used opioids are codeine and tramadol.  

NFL: Oakland Raiders Release All-Pro Wide Receiver Antonio Brown

One of the most drama filled months in Oakland Raiders franchise history (and that’s saying something about a franchise like the Oakland Raiders) has finally come to an end. All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown, who the Raiders acquired via trade from the Pittsburgh Steelers has been released by the team. The Raiders had signed Brown to a $30 million guaranteed contract. However, over $29 million of that contract has been voided because of Brown’s actions. He flew to training camp in a hot air balloon, cold-burned his foot in a cryogenic chamber, refused to show up for some practice sessions and got into a non-physical altercation with his General Manager.

Antonio Brown’s behaviour with the Raiders was widely criticized by most NFL analysts. Newly appointed Raiders GM Mike Mayock slapped a $54,000 fine on Brown for missing practice. Brown showed his intense displeasure at that action by posting a picture of the official Raiders document mentioning the fine.

Once the post was published by Brown, GM Mayock was very upset at him and that led to a non-physical altercation between the two which was even witnessed by some other players. Brown apologized for his behaviour later and was slated to appear in the Raiders’ season opener against the Denver Broncos. Raiders coach Jon Gruden had released this statement less than 24 hours ago: “Antonio is back today … We’re really excited about that. We’re ready to move on. He’s obviously had a lot of time to think about things. We’re happy to have him back, and I know Raider nation is excited about that too.”

However, once the news of Brown’s imminent release started circulating the NFL air, Gruden’s statement changed drastically. He said: “I’m emotional about it, hope you understand why. I think a lot of this guy, I think Antonio is a great receiver, and I think deep down, I think he’s a really good guy. So I’m frustrated. I’m not going to say any more about it. Hope it all works out. But I don’t have anything official to say about anything else until I get all the facts, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Prior to his release, Brown posted this on his Instagram page:

The caption read: “I have worked my whole life to prove that the system is blind to see talent like mines. Now that everyone sees it, they want me to conform to that same system that has failed me all those years…Release me.”

The Raiders released him soon after that and his agent Drew Rosenhaus said in a statement to CNN: “Now that Antonio is a free agent, we are focused on the future and I will immediately work on signing him to a new team. Antonio is looking forward to a new beginning.”

Brown will be entering his 10th NFL season, his first as a free agent. Despite his behavioural shortcomings, he’d be a massive steal for any team which signs him to a non-guaranteed contract in the ball-park of $3-$5 million per year.