| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 8.1% | - | 11.1% |
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| 11.1% | 56.6% |
Rowan Street generated +11.1% net returns in 2025 versus +17.9% for the S&P 500, delivering solid absolute performance following two exceptionally strong years. The three-year cumulative return of +252% significantly outpaced the S&P 500's +78% return. Performance was driven by highest-conviction holdings, with Tesla contributing +6.8% as the largest contributor, followed by Shopify at +5.6% and Spotify at +4.5%. The Trade Desk detracted -6.9% but remains profitable since inception. The portfolio reflects a disciplined approach of concentrated ownership in exceptional businesses, allowing compounding rather than activity to drive results. Meta Platforms exemplifies this philosophy, compounding at 19% annually over eight years without any sales. The strategy accepts inevitable periods of underperformance in exchange for long-term compounding, with position sizes adjusting naturally based on business execution rather than forced rebalancing. The current portfolio represents the strongest collection of businesses since inception, positioned for continued long-term value creation through patient capital deployment.
Rowan Street operates as a concentrated strategy focused on owning a select number of high-quality businesses with strong balance sheets, durable economics, and the ability to reinvest free cash flow at attractive rates across cycles, allowing long-term business performance rather than short-term market movements to determine outcomes.
The portfolio today represents the strongest collection of businesses owned since inception, reflecting a disciplined approach of owning select exceptional businesses led by capable and tested management teams. The focus remains on holding these businesses long enough for their economics to reveal themselves, with confidence that results will take care of themselves over time.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 5 2026 | 2025 Q4 | META, SHOP.TO, SPOT, TSLA, TTD | Compounding, Concentration, long-term, Quality, technology | - | Shopify represents a key e-commerce infrastructure play that has strengthened its competitive position despite valuation compression. The company refocused operations, improved efficiency, and prioritized long-term… |
| Oct 24 2025 | 2025 Q3 | ADYEY, DNOPY, META, NFLX, SHOP, SPOT, TOI CN, TSLA, TTD | AI, Compounding, Founders, Quality, Tesla |
TSLA SPOT TSLA SPOT |
Rowan outperformed with a 20.4% YTD gain, emphasizing founder-led compounders like Meta, Shopify, and Adyen. The fund reallocated from Spotify to Tesla, citing Teslas multi-layered… |
| Jul 11 2025 | 2025 Q2 | META, SPOT | fundamentals, growth, secular trends, unit economics, valuation |
META SPOT |
The commentary highlights selective growth investing focused on companies with expanding addressable markets and improving unit economics. Management stresses avoiding speculative excess while leaning into… |
| Apr 16 2025 | 2025 Q1 | ADYEY, SPOT | - | - | - |
| Jan 24 2025 | 2024 Q4 | META, SHOP, SPOT, TOI CN, TTD | - | - | - |
| Oct 18 2024 | 2024 Q3 | - | - | - | - |
| Sep 5 2024 | 2024 Q2 | META, SHOP, SPOT, TOI CN | - | - | - |
| May 18 2024 | 2024 Q1 | CMG, TTD | - | - | - |
| Jan 24 2024 | 2023 Q4 | ADYEY, META, SHOP, SPOT, TOI CN, TTD | - | - | - |
| Oct 15 2023 | 2023 Q3 | META | - | - | - |
| Dec 7 2023 | 2023 Q2 | CMG, NVO, TSCO | - | - | - |
| Nov 4 2023 | 2023 Q1 | META, SPOT, TTD | - | - | - |
| Jan 18 2023 | 2022 Q4 | COST, KO, PG | - | - | - |
| Sep 11 2022 | 2022 Q3 | DOCU, SPOT | - | - | - |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
AdvertisingSecular tailwinds in the shift towards digital advertising. Largest firms have significant network effects and competitive advantages, with high barriers-to-entry. |
Digital Network Effects Barriers |
E-commerceAlibaba Group was the top detractor despite its core E-commerce business continuing to perform well and Cloud revenue growth accelerating. The company was negatively impacted by significant spending on subsidies to grow their Quick Commerce business, though losses are expected to be reduced over time. |
Quick Commerce Cloud China Technology AI | |
Electric VehiclesEV tax incentives were curtailed by July's One Big Beautiful Bill, causing a surge in Q3 sales followed by a sharp Q4 drop. However, EV charging infrastructure remained consistent with over 230,000 publicly available chargers deployed in the US for the first time. |
EV Charging Charging Networks Auto Policy Infrastructure | |
Social MediaMeta demonstrates the resilience of large networks through its ability to adapt to competitive threats and regulatory changes. The company's massive user base and AI investments have enabled it to maintain growth in engagement and advertising despite challenges from TikTok and Apple's privacy changes. |
Social Media Network Effects AI Investment User Engagement Advertising | |
| 2025 Q3 |
AIAI has become a dominant theme across major equity indices, with Nvidia leading the S&P 500, ASML dominating MSCI EAFE, and TSMC leading emerging markets. The fund benefited from AI-related dynamics, particularly through Samsung's memory products experiencing substantial price increases due to DRAM shortages driven by AI demand. |
Semiconductors Memory DRAM Technology Nvidia |
| 2025 Q2 |
Growth |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 24, 2025 | Fund Letters | Alex Kopel | SPOT | Spotify Technology S.A. | Communication Services | Entertainment | Bear | NYSE | advertising, ARPU, Audio, Automation, Competition, Margins, Podcasts, Streaming, valuation | Login |
| Oct 24, 2025 | Fund Letters | Alex Kopel | TSLA | Tesla Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Automobiles | Bull | NASDAQ | AI, Automation, Autonomy, Data, energy storage, EV, innovation, manufacturing, Margins, robotics | Login |
| Oct 24, 2025 | Fund Letters | Alex Kopel | SPOT | Spotify Technology S.A. | Communication Services | Entertainment | Bear | NYSE | advertising, ARPU, Audio, Automation, Competition, Margins, Podcasts, Streaming, valuation | Login |
| Jul 11, 2025 | Fund Letters | Alex Kopel | META | Meta Platforms, Inc. | Communication Services | Interactive Media & Services | Bull | NASDAQ | advertising, AI, compounding, Drawdowns, social media | Login |
| Jul 11, 2025 | Fund Letters | Alex Kopel | SPOT | Spotify Technology S.A. | Communication Services | Interactive Media & Services | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Audio, Engagement, margin expansion, Streaming, Subscription | Login |
| Oct 24, 2025 | Fund Letters | Alex Kopel | TSLA | Tesla Inc. | Consumer Discretionary | Automobiles | Bull | NASDAQ | AI, Automation, Autonomy, Data, energy storage, EV, innovation, manufacturing, Margins, robotics | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| META | Meta was cited as a larger position that contributed little despite what I thought was positive operating progress, representing opportunity cost in the portfolio. |
| SHOP.TO | Non dividend paying technology names Shopify and Celestica had also meaningful contribution to the index returns for the year, detracting our relative outcome. |
| SPOT | Spotify is the world's leading audio streaming platform. Third-quarter results showed continued operating progress, with users increasing 11% to 713 million and subscribers growing 12% to 281 million. Meanwhile, operating income expanded to a mid-teens margin, alongside a record quarterly free cash flow. Despite the momentum, the shares weakened as investors reset near-term margin expectations. Spotify has been a top contributor to long-term Fund performance, and we remain confident that pricing, product innovation, advertising efficiency, and an expanding ecosystem can continue to widen margins over time, as reinforced this quarter by the launch of Spotify recommendations within ChatGPT. |
| TSLA | The largest 10 companies, by market capitalization, had reached 40.7% of the S&P 500 by the end of 2025, up from roughly 30% at the end of 2021. At the top of this list are Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Broadcom (AVGO), Meta (META), and Tesla (TSLA). |
| TTD | Communication Services also detracted from relative performance, driven by early-year weakness in The Trade Desk (TTD). The company, one of the world's largest independent demand-side advertising platforms, faced its first revenue miss in more than eight years and issued softer-than-consensus expected guidance. These challenges were compounded by disruptions from a sales reorganization and slower adoption of its new AI-powered platform, Kokai. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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