| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 11.0% | 3.0% | 13.0% |
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| 13.0% | 8.0% |
The Platinum International Fund delivered 3.0% returns in Q4 2025 and 13.1% for the full year, outperforming its benchmark. The global economic environment continued developing as expected with slowing growth but no recession, characterized by a K-shaped recovery where affluent consumers prosper while lower socio-economic segments remain pressured. Markets grappled with geopolitical instability from Liberation Day tariff policies and AI potential assessment. Key contributors included aircraft leasing business AerCap, tech giant Alphabet, and semiconductor leader TSMC, while Jacobs Solutions, Microsoft and Uber detracted. The fund maintains a concentrated portfolio of high-conviction investments with 2% cash, focusing on quality businesses with favorable long-term drivers. AI continues reshaping industry dynamics, with every sector being categorized as winners or losers, though the manager views this as overly simplistic. Political uncertainty persists with potential Fed leadership changes and tariff policy implications. The outlook anticipates continued market dispersion demanding disciplined stock selection and valuation discipline while avoiding speculation.
Focus on high-quality businesses led by experienced and aligned management teams that benefit from favourable long-term business drivers in a diverse range of well-structured industries, applying bottom-up investment philosophy while avoiding market fads and speculation.
Base case is that the 2026 investment environment will be broadly consistent with that of 2025 and 2024, albeit hopefully without the added excitement of another Liberation Day type event. Recent macroeconomic trends and the market's focus on AI are expected to persist, while remaining mindful that adverse outcomes typically come from unexpected areas. Patchy, moderate economic growth is expected with continued divergence between more affluent consumers and those with lower incomes.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21 2026 | 2025 Q4 | AER, AMZN, BKNG, CRH, DHR, GOOGL, ICE, INTU, J, MA, MSFT, TSM, UBER, V | AI, Aircraft Leasing, global, growth, large cap, payments, semiconductors, technology | - | Markets continue to grapple with AI potential and its impact across industries. Every industry and company is being categorized as either an AI Winner or AI Loser, which the manager views as a shallow distinction. Almost every industry will need to incorporate and adapt AI, creating both opportunities and disruption across sectors. AerCap contributed 1.4% to Fund returns during the quarter. The aircraft leasing business continues to perform well as a key contributor to portfolio performance, representing a significant position in the Fund's financials allocation. TSMC contributed 0.7% to Fund performance and is highlighted as the leading manufacturer of semiconductor chips used in AI, mobile phone and other applications. The company benefits from extremely strong demand, has industry-leading manufacturing capabilities, and continues to exceed financial performance expectations with a long runway for future growth. The Fund maintains significant exposure to payments companies including Mastercard and Visa as top 10 holdings, representing 12% of the portfolio allocation. These companies benefit from the ongoing digitization of payments and strong network effects in the global payments ecosystem. |
| Oct 16 2025 | 2025 Q3 | ASML, BABA, IQV, TSM | Artificial Intelligence, China, healthcare, semiconductors, technology | TSM | The funds outperformance stemmed from AI-related semiconductor holdings and a rebound in healthcare names after regulatory clarity. It highlights balanced positioning between the U.S. and China, with Chinese tech valuations remaining attractive. Platinum expects sustained AI investment and normalization in pharmaceutical research spending to drive multi-sector growth. |
| Jul 17 2025 | 2025 Q2 | CCO CN, WIZZ LN | Artificial Intelligence, Data centers, growth, semiconductors, technology |
CCO CN WIZZ LN |
The commentary emphasizes exposure to global technology leaders benefiting from AI-driven demand, semiconductor cycles, and data center investment. Management highlights enablers rather than speculative end-use applications. Technology is positioned as a long-duration growth driver despite short-term valuation sensitivity. |
| Mar 31 2025 | 2025 Q1 | ABLV, AZN LN, MRK, NOVT | - | - | |
| Dec 31 2024 | 2024 Q4 | 7203 JP, AVGO, NICE IT | - | - | |
| Sep 30 2024 | 2024 Q3 | 005930 KS, DSV DC | - | - | |
| Jun 30 2024 | 2024 Q2 | AMZN, GOOG, PUM GR, TSM | - | - | |
| Mar 31 2024 | 2024 Q1 | 000660 KS, 7203 JP, AVGO, TSM, ZEAL DC | - | - | |
| Dec 31 2023 | 2023 Q4 | 300750 CH, PDD, TM, TRU | - | - | |
| Sep 30 2023 | 2023 Q3 | 5901 JP, ZTO | - | - | |
| Jun 30 2023 | 2023 Q2 | 300750 CH, BAX, NVDA | - | - | |
| Mar 31 2023 | 2023 Q1 | - | - | - |
| QUARTER | THEMES | TAGS |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Q4 |
AIAI has been integrated into RGA's research process through tools like NotebookLM, Gems in Gemini, and Claude Code. The firm views AI as a force multiplier for human judgment rather than a replacement, emphasizing the Kasparov Law principle. They believe the market narrative around AI displacement is swinging to unhelpful extremes, creating investment opportunities. |
Machine Learning Automation Software Productivity Innovation |
Aircraft LeasingStrong underlying environment with 5-7% growth in international passengers, near 100% capacity utilization, and limited aircraft availability. Avation represents asymmetric opportunity trading at 18% discount to NAV despite improved financial position. |
Lessors Capacity Travel Aviation Fleet | |
PaymentsWise represents the most asymmetric investment in the portfolio, taking market share from legacy correspondent banking through cheaper, faster, and more transparent infrastructure. The company is evolving from a remittance app into a global financial services platform with three reinforcing routes to market: Consumer, Business and Platform. |
Cross-border Fintech Infrastructure Platform SME | |
SemiconductorsRGA initiated a position in Lattice Semiconductor, viewing it as an under-appreciated AI winner with immediate gains and longer-term optionality. Lattice's focus on efficiency and advantages in low-power, small footprint FPGAs position it favorably for AI servers, particularly as the only Post-Quantum Cryptography secure chips on the market. |
FPGAs Security Efficiency AI Infrastructure Programmable | |
| 2025 Q3 |
AIAI has been integrated into RGA's research process through tools like NotebookLM, Gems in Gemini, and Claude Code. The firm views AI as a force multiplier for human judgment rather than a replacement, emphasizing the Kasparov Law principle. They believe the market narrative around AI displacement is swinging to unhelpful extremes, creating investment opportunities. |
Machine Learning Automation Software Productivity Innovation |
HealthcareHealthcare was the strongest relative contributor in the quarter with holdings increasing nearly +16% compared to benchmark returns of roughly +12%. Exact Sciences was acquired for a significant premium by Abbott Laboratories resulting in an +86% return, while other strong performers included Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Glaukos following approval of a new product, Penumbra, and Repligen driven by strong earnings results. |
M&A Product Approval Earnings Biotech | |
| 2025 Q2 |
Technology |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Ted Alexander | CCO CN | Cameco Corporation | Energy | Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Baseload, Commodities, Decarbonisation, energy, Nuclear, uranium | Login |
| Jul 17, 2025 | Fund Letters | Ted Alexander | WIZZ LN | Wizz Air Holdings Plc | Industrials | Airlines | Bear | New York Stock Exchange | Airlines, Capacity, Competition, Cyclicals, Risk, Travel | Login |
| Oct 16, 2025 | Fund Letters | Ted Alexander | TSM | Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. | Information Technology | Semiconductors | Bull | Warsaw Stock Exchange | AI, Chips, Foundry, Pricing power, semiconductors, Taiwan | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| AER | Airline leasing business AerCap contributed 1.4% to the Fund's returns |
| AMZN | One company we own that we think has unique positioning to benefit from both the infrastructure and application layers is Amazon. Amazon's logistical prowess is one of the foremost moats in business today and it can and will be enhanced with AI. The company will do this in multiple ways, with better orchestration of its logistics assets and underlying cargo, as well as the buildout of more capable, sophisticated and robust robotics. Amazon is singularly well positioned to dominate the coordination layer, with AI's help, across its entire logistics network. |
| BKNG | You may remember that we owned Booking during the pandemic. It is the world's leading online travel agency and a business we have admired for a long time. The company benefits from powerful network effects—more hotels attract more travelers, and vice versa—creating a moat that is incredibly difficult for competitors to cross. It is highly profitable, capital-light, and generates significant free cash flow. We were happy to re-enter this high-quality compounder at a valuation that offers a compelling margin of safety. |
| DHR | After lagging through the first three quarters of 2025, Danaher's stock rebounded during Q4 as bioprocessing, life science, and diagnostics demand continued to recover from a cyclical trough. On the 3Q25 call, management established conservative 2026 growth expectations. Revenue is expected to continue to lag long-term trends at 3-6% but improve throughout the year. |
| GOOGL | In the third quarter, Google, Kairos Power, and the Tennessee Valley Authority announced a major collaboration centered on a novel power purchase agreement. Google followed this announcement with another significant step forward. On October 27, Google and NextEra Energy announced plans to restart the Duane Arnold Energy Center. |
| ICE | Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is a long-term holding and remains a top 10 position in the Fund. ICE's share price has been under pressure, largely due to AI-related concerns. The share price has already recovered 15% from recent lows. |
| INTU | ServiceNow (NOW) and Intuit (INTU) exemplify this dynamic, advancing meaningful AI initiatives that enhance customer value and deepen competitive advantages. Intuit is deploying intelligent agents and conversational tools like 'Ask Anything' to simplify complex financial tasks across QuickBooks and TurboTax. |
| J | Jacobs Solutions is a global leader in engineering services. Whilst the company continues to perform in line with our expectations, during the quarter a competitor held an investor event and suggested AI would disrupt the engineering services industry. We think Jacobs Solutions will be a net beneficiary of the AI revolution. Management is actively investing in AI to deliver efficiencies and the company also benefits from providing engineering services to meet the massive growth in AI-centric infrastructure. We view recent share price weakness in Jacobs as unjustified, so we moderately increased our position. |
| MA | The enduring appeal of card payments is their universality. Consumers trust that Visa and Mastercard will be accepted globally. After more than 20 years of litigation, Visa and Mastercard agreed to yet another settlement that gives merchants greater flexibility |
| MSFT | MSFT was a detractor in 4Q25 following its fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings report released on October 29. While results were better than expected operationally, investor reaction was driven by guidance and capital expenditure intensity rather than headline performance. Revenue grew 17% year-over-year, exceeding consensus expectations, and Azure revenue increased 39% year-over-year, also ahead of estimates. However, management guided to a sequential deceleration in Azure growth in fiscal Q2, signaling some moderation after a period of exceptional demand. |
| TSM | TSMC was a top contributor during the quarter, driven by robust demand for advanced semiconductor manufacturing and improved gross margins as AI continues to grow strong and the non-AI segment showed signs of recovery. Management raised its revenue growth guidance to the mid-30% range, and given continued strength in demand, AI-related growth targets are expected to move above the current mid-40% level. |
| UBER | UBER was a detractor in the fourth quarter following its third-quarter 2025 earnings report, which delivered strong operating performance but was met with a muted market reaction. Gross Bookings and adjusted EBITDA both came in near the high end of management's guidance, driven by accelerating demand across both Mobility and Delivery. However, investor focus shifted to commentary around reduced margin expansion as the company steps up investment in growth initiatives, including autonomous vehicle partnerships, platform innovation, and commerce expansion. |
| V | There were companies there such as Visa, which we own, as well as many we do not, and which would not likely be appropriate for this mandate. |
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