The curated database of hedge funds that publish investor letters. Research by geography, strategy, and schools of thought.
| # | Fund | Strategy | Style | Geography | AUM | Latest Letter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Orbis Global Equity returned 19.9% in the first half of 2026, outperforming the MSCI All Country World Index by 7.8% net of fees. Ben Preston assumed strategy leadership on July 1, with the investment philosophy, process, and stockpicking engine remaining unchanged. The portfolio navigated one of the narrowest market breadth environments on record, where only one in four stocks outperformed the index in April and May. The strategy frames AI exposure in four groups, with particular focus on the Overlooked category of businesses mispriced as AI casualties. Insurance brokers Brown & Brown and Ryan Specialty exemplify this approach, where AI enhances rather than replaces human judgement in commercial and specialty coverage. QXO demonstrates value creation through operational transformation in building-products distribution. The manager draws parallels to electric motor adoption in factories, where value came from redesigning workflows rather than simply swapping technology. The portfolio emphasizes adaptability, with every position required to earn its keep. The outlook acknowledges ongoing uncertainty from geopolitical realignment, shifting trade, and generational technology changes, with the goal of building a portfolio that benefits more from being right than suffers from being wrong.
Orbis Global Equity focuses on identifying mispriced opportunities in companies the market has incorrectly written off as AI casualties, particularly in insurance brokerage and building products distribution, where AI enhances rather than replaces business models through proprietary data and operational transformation.
Manager expects the environment to keep testing the portfolio as geopolitical realignment, shifting trade, and generational technology changes remain in motion. The approach is to build a portfolio that benefits more from being right than it suffers from being wrong, rather than attempting to predict outcomes. Emphasis on discipline, independence, and patience with strong convictions loosely held.
As of Jul 30, 2026
The fund is managed by a highly experienced team led by President Adam Karr, who holds degrees from Northwestern University and Harvard Business School and has been with Orbis since 2002. Graeme Forster joined as Director in 2022 with advanced degrees from Oxford and Cambridge plus CFA designation. Benjamin Preston has been directing capital in the strategy since 2000 with Oxford mathematical sciences background and CFA. Nick Purser leads currency management with advanced degrees from Cambridge and Oxford plus CFA. The team operates within a firm founded in 1989 by Allan W.B. Gray, managing $34 billion globally with offices across major financial centers including London, Vancouver, Sydney, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Luxembourg.
The Orbis Global Equity Fund employs a contrarian value investing approach that has been consistently applied for over 30 years. The fund seeks to achieve higher returns than global equity markets without taking on greater risk through extensive proprietary bottom-up fundamental research. The investment team actively seeks undervalued and ignored stocks, often investing against prevailing market sentiment with a three-to-five year investment horizon. With an active share of 97% and a concentrated portfolio of 73-80 stocks, the fund emphasizes patience and fundamental analysis over market trends or momentum. Private ownership allows for a truly long-term perspective without external pressure for short-term results, accepting underperformance as the price for seeking superior long-term returns.
Lead Portfolio Manager
Moderate Conviction Bullish
Market Conviction
The letter names six specific holdings with substantive commentary on three (Brown & Brown, Ryan Specialty, QXO) including detailed investment theses. The manager articulates a clear framework for AI exposure across four categories and states explicitly where they are hunting (the Overlooked category). Position-level conviction is demonstrated through specific reasoning on why insurance brokers and building-products distributors are mispriced. However, the portfolio appears diversified rather than concentrated, with no position sizing disclosed and multiple holdings across different AI exposure categories. The emphasis on adaptability and the statement that every position must earn its keep suggests active management of a broader portfolio rather than extreme concentration. The conviction is moderate-to-high on specific names within a diversified structure.
Growth Outlook
Market outlook remains very low conviction: Orbis International Equity pursues bottom-up value investing across global markets, holding Samsung, Genmab, Nintendo, Cemex, and Magnum. Their detailed Magnum analysis exemplifies...
Risk Appetite
Risk appetite posture is above average conviction: Orbis International Equity pursues bottom-up value investing across global markets, holding Samsung, Genmab, Nintendo, Cemex, and Magnum. Their detailed Magnum analysis exemplifies...
Capital Deployment
The letter describes hunting for opportunities in the Overlooked category and provides detailed theses on specific holdings, indicating selective adding activity. However, there is no explicit discussion of cash level changes, and the emphasis on adaptability and every position earning its keep suggests rotation rather than net deployment. The manager states they are hunting but does not indicate aggressive capital deployment or material cash reduction. The narrow market breadth environment (only one in four stocks outperforming) likely required careful position selection rather than broad deployment. Without cash level data and with emphasis on selectivity over aggression, this scores as mildly positive rotation activity.
Forward Guidance
Forward guidance signal: Orbis International Equity pursues bottom-up value investing across global markets, holding Samsung, Genmab, Nintendo, Cemex, and Magnum. Their detailed Magnum analysis exemplifies...
Language Signal
The letter balances opportunity language (hunting, mispriced, compelling, attractive, value creation, benefits) with risk acknowledgment (narrowest breadth on record, three out of four stocks are hay, testing, uncertainty, too early to celebrate). Positive language centers on specific holdings and the Overlooked category where the market is most wrong. Risk language focuses on market structure and macro uncertainty. The net balance is roughly neutral with a slight lean toward opportunity in specific areas offset by caution on broader conditions. The confident tone about the investment process and team should not be scored as bullish market language.
Perceived Risk
Perceived risk level is evaluated as moderate conviction. Orbis International Equity pursues bottom-up value investing across global markets, holding Samsung, Genmab, Nintendo, Cemex, and Magnum. Their detailed Magnum analysis exemplifies...
Opportunity Density
The manager describes hunting for opportunities in the Overlooked category where they believe the market is most wrong, indicating a defined but meaningful opportunity set. Six specific holdings are named with detailed theses on three, suggesting selective opportunities rather than a broad set. The statement that only one in four stocks outperformed in April and May implies a challenging environment for finding winners, but the manager frames this as making needles more valuable when found. The tone is selective rather than abundant, with emphasis on finding mispriced AI casualties in specific areas like insurance brokerage and building-products distribution. This suggests moderate opportunity density in defined pockets rather than broad market opportunities.
Time Horizon
The letter emphasizes multi-year themes including AI adoption, workflow redesign, and structural market expansion in excess and surplus insurance. The electric motor factory analogy references turn-of-the-century adoption patterns, suggesting the manager thinks in terms of long-term technological transitions. The emphasis on strong convictions loosely held and the statement that the job is to build a portfolio that benefits more from being right than suffers from being wrong suggests patience rather than near-term catalyst dependency. However, the letter also discusses quarterly performance and the need for every position to earn its keep, indicating active monitoring. The time horizon appears to be multi-year (2-5 years) for thesis realization with active management along the way, rather than permanent capital or decade-plus holding periods.
Top Conviction Themes
Key Catalysts
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