| ANNUALIZED SINCE INCEPTION | QUARTERLY | YTD |
|---|---|---|
| 13.4% | 0.1% | 7.1% |
| 2025 | 2024 |
|---|---|
| 7.1% | 26.1% |
Vulcan Value Partners delivered positive returns across all strategies in 2025 while meaningfully improving price-to-value ratios, positioning portfolios for superior long-term compounding. The current market environment feels similar to the late 1990s, with AI stocks driving approximately 61% of S&P 500 returns and the largest market cap companies dominating performance. While AI represents real transformational technology, the manager sees concerning parallels to dot-com era valuations. This dynamic has created exceptional opportunities in high-quality non-AI companies that are steadily compounding values but being ignored by markets. The Small Cap portfolio trades at a weighted average price-to-value ratio in the mid-50s, representing incredible value in today's environment. The manager has repositioned portfolios toward healthcare and insurance businesses while finding tremendous opportunities in the 490 stocks outside the top 10 largest market cap names. With interest rates declining and a healthy economy, the firm remains fully invested with improved margins of safety across all strategies, believing portfolios are positioned for exceptional long-term value creation.
In a market environment reminiscent of the late 1990s where AI stocks dominate returns similar to dot-com stocks, Vulcan Value Partners is finding exceptional value opportunities in high-quality 'old economy' companies that are being ignored while steadily compounding their values at attractive discounts to intrinsic value.
The manager could not be more pleased with how portfolios are positioned for long-term compounding, with improved attractive price to value ratios across all strategies. They believe portfolios are full of 'Medpaces' - high-quality companies compounding values at attractive rates with prices not reflecting fair values. While unable to control timing of rewards, they can control the types of businesses owned and prices paid.
| Date | Letter | Tickers | Keywords | Pitches | Quick Takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 18 2026 | 2025 Q4 | CBRE, CRM, CSGP, FI, GOOGL, ITRN, KMX, MC.PA, MEDP, MSFT, QRVO, RE, RI.PA, RYAN, SSNC, SW, SWKS, TRU, UNH | AI, Buybacks, healthcare, insurance, small caps, technology, value |
RYAN CBRE GOOG CRM CSGP MSFT |
AI is in early stages of disrupting numerous businesses similar to the Internet in the 1990s. The manager believes AI is as real and transformational as the Internet, with approximately 61% of the S&P 500's return in 2025 coming from AI-related stocks. However, concerns exist about paying too much for AI businesses despite their real potential. The manager is finding tremendous opportunities in non-AI related companies that are steadily compounding their values but being ignored by the market. These 'old economy' companies are becoming increasingly discounted while AI stocks dominate returns, creating attractive value opportunities similar to the late 1990s dot-com era. Small Cap returns have lagged Large Cap for an extended period, with the manager noting conversations about whether to continue allocating to Small Caps. The Small Cap portfolio has a weighted average price to value ratio in the mid-50s, representing the most discounted portfolio. Sell-side coverage is spotty to nearly non-existent for many small cap holdings. Share repurchases are highlighted as a key value creation mechanism, with Medpace repurchasing over 8% of shares at approximately 50% of intrinsic value, effectively providing 100% returns on capital deployed. Companies are using strong balance sheets and free cash flow for opportunistic buybacks at discounted valuations. |
| Oct 14 2025 | 2025 Q3 | FI, GOOG, MEDP | Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Enterprise, software, value |
GOOGL US Salesforce Inc |
Alphabet continued to deliver robust results driven by AI expansion and favorable legal outcomes, while Salesforce underperformed due to investor skepticism about AI monetization. Vulcan maintains confidence in Salesforces entrenched enterprise software ecosystem and sees AI as an enhancer of long-term profitability. |
| Jun 30 2025 | 2025 Q2 | - | business fundamentals, Capital discipline, Margin Of Safety, Quality, value | - | The letter emphasizes disciplined intrinsic value investing focused on high-quality businesses trading at discounts to long-term worth. Market volatility is viewed as an opportunity to acquire durable franchises when short-term uncertainty depresses prices. Patience and downside protection remain central to compounding capital over full cycles. |
| Apr 9 2025 | 2025 Q1 | AMZN, CRM, GOOG, MSFT, SWKS | - | - | |
| Dec 31 2024 | 2024 Q4 | AMZN, CG, CRM, EG, GOOG, KKR, LYV | - | - | |
| Oct 9 2024 | 2024 Q3 | CBRE, KKR, LYV, MC FP | - | - | |
| Jul 12 2024 | 2024 Q2 | CSGP, GOOG | - | - | |
| Apr 25 2024 | 2024 Q1 | AMZN, CRM, GE, KKR, MSFT, TDG | - | - | |
| Jan 17 2024 | 2023 Q4 | AMZN, CBRE, CG, CRM, KKR, MSFT, TDG | - | - | |
| Oct 10 2023 | 2023 Q3 | - | - | - | |
| Jul 31 2023 | 2023 Q2 | AMZN, GOOG, MSFT, TDG | - | - | |
| Mar 31 2023 | 2023 Q1 | GEHC, MSFT | - | - | |
| Sep 2 2023 | 2022 Q4 | AMZN, GE, MA, TDG, V | - | - | |
| Sep 11 2022 | 2022 Q3 | CRM | - | - |
| 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 |
BuybacksShare repurchases in 2024 and 2025 hit consecutive records as companies raced to meet Tokyo Stock Exchange capital efficiency mandates. Buybacks were a primary driver of the market's 20% climb in the first half of FY2025. |
Share Repurchases Capital Efficiency TSE Mandates Shareholder Returns Records | |
Small CapsSmall caps getting strong start in 2026 supported by easing monetary conditions and constructive fiscal backdrop. Small caps more sensitive to economic cyclicality which is overdue for expansion. Expected to grow at better pace than large caps in 2026 after long period of underperformance. |
Value Growth Cyclical Monetary Policy Fiscal Policy | |
ValueManager emphasizes investing in controlled companies trading at significant discounts to NAV, with European holding companies showing discounts of 30-68%. The strategy focuses on securities mispricing where real value exists, contrasting with overvalued technology stocks. |
Discounts NAV Mispricing Undervalued Controlled | |
| 2025 Q3 |
AI Adoption |
|
SoftwareEnterprise software companies showing strong fundamentals with ServiceNow, Intuit, and Synopsys delivering consistent growth. Software platforms benefiting from digital transformation and AI integration trends. |
Enterprise SaaS Cloud Digital Transformation Platforms | |
Value Investing |
||
| 2025 Q2 |
ValueThe manager continues to find attractive value opportunities despite expensive markets, purchasing undervalued companies like Centene, GlaxoSmithKline, Carrefour and PayPal trading at low multiples with strong fundamentals. |
Undervalued Low Multiples Contrarian Opportunistic |
| Date | Pitch Type | Author | Ticker | Company | Industry | Sub Industry | Bull / Bear | Exchange | Keywords | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 14, 2025 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | GOOGL US | Alphabet Inc | Communication Services | Interactive Media & Services | Bull | NASDAQ | advertising, AI, cloud, growth, Regulation, Search | Login |
| Oct 14, 2025 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | Salesforce Inc | NASDAQ | Information Technology | Application Software | Bull | - | AI, cloud, CRM, growth, Margins, SaaS, Software | Login |
| Jan 18, 2026 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | RYAN | Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. | Financials | Insurance Brokers | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Delegated Authority, Excess Surplus Insurance, founder-led, Free Cash Flow, Pricing Cycle | Login |
| Jan 18, 2026 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | CBRE | CBRE Group, Inc. | Real Estate | Real Estate Services | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | Asset Rotation, capital discipline, commercial real estate, Cyclical Recovery, recurring revenue | Login |
| Jan 18, 2026 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | GOOG | Alphabet Inc. | Communication Services | Interactive Media & Services | Bull | NASDAQ | advertising, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud computing, Platform Scale, Search | Login |
| Jan 18, 2026 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | CRM | Salesforce, Inc. | Information Technology | Application Software | Bull | New York Stock Exchange | AI agents, Enterprise software, margin expansion, Platform Moat, recurring revenue | Login |
| Jan 18, 2026 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | CSGP | CoStar Group, Inc. | Real Estate | Real Estate Services | Bear | NASDAQ | capital allocation, margin pressure, Optional Growth, Real Estate Data, subscription revenue | Login |
| Jan 18, 2026 | Fund Letters | C.T. Fitzpatrick | MSFT | Microsoft Corporation | Information Technology | Software | Bear | NASDAQ | AI infrastructure, capital expenditure, Cloud computing, recurring revenue, Software Ecosystems | Login |
| TICKER | COMMENTARY |
|---|---|
| CBRE | CBRE Group Inc. was an excellent investment for us. As the world's largest commercial real estate services company, CBRE has a market-leading position in leasing and property sales brokerage. We purchased shares in June 2022 at peak concern regarding the future of the office due to remote work, rising interest rates, and a weakening economy. CBRE's value grew over the course of our ownership, but its share price rose faster, and we reallocated capital to more discounted businesses. |
| CRM | By looking at their Rnancials, FactSet, PayPal, Adobe, and Salesforce seem to be doing Rne. The market, however, is reading subdued revenue growth as a sign of increased competition on their core oSerings. These companies' outlooks look more di'cult than their past. |
| CSGP | The shares of CoStar Group, Inc., the global leader in digitizing real estate, declined in the fourth quarter, due to concerns that the company's residential Homes.com platform will continue to require significant capital investment and competitive worries that Google's new real estate advertisement format and Zillow's OpenAI partnership could divert traffic from Homes.com in the years ahead. |
| FI | Notable detractors from performance came from Fiserv (-43bps absolute and -39bps relative) |
| 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. |
| ITRN | Ituran provides stolen vehicle recovery services, primarily in Israel, Brazil, and other parts of Latin America and was a material contributor during the quarter and year. Using a device installed in the car, Ituran is able to detect when a vehicle has been stolen, notify law enforcement, and assist in the locating and recovery of the vehicle. Ituran's customers include auto OEMs, individual drivers, and insurance companies. 70% of its revenue comes from ongoing subscriptions. Ituran performed well in 2025, with YTD revenue up +5%, while the EBITDA margin has contracted slightly due to currency headwinds. In May, the company announced a major agreement with Stellantis, which covers multiple countries in South America over a multiyear period. In November, they announced a new 3-year agreement with Renault in Latin America. We continue to like Ituran's business and believe it trades at a substantial discount to intrinsic value. |
| KMX | Over the past five years, CarMax's shares declined by 62%, while Carvana's shares rose by 73%, leaving CarMax's market capitalization at roughly one-tenth of Carvana's today. |
| MC.PA | Top gainers among the Fund's holdings included LVMH (+24%) |
| MEDP | Medpace was the Fund's largest contributor in H1 FY26, having been among its largest detractors over the prior 12 months. Medpace is a US-listed clinical research organisation focused on small biotechnology companies. After four consecutive quarters of elevated project cancellations, Medpace delivered a strong inflection in fundamentals, reporting very robust net bookings growth in Q2 and Q3 FY25, alongside stronger-than-expected guidance for FY26. |
| 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. |
| QRVO | We believe Skyworks' merger with Qorvo will be a long-term positive, and we see room for rising demand from both industrial and mobile applications. |
| RE | In many ways we have come full circle with Everest Group – it is an old friend. We owned Everest RE, now called Everest Group, for 11 years in our Small Cap strategy during which it grew into a large cap, and we purchased it in our Large Cap program as well. We sold it out of both portfolios in 2020 to reallocate capital to companies with larger margins of safety. In the third quarter of 2023, we repurchased Everest Group in our Large Cap strategy. Despite steady value per share growth, Everest Group's stock price declined in 2024 and 2025 so we were able to buy it again in our Small Cap strategy. Everest Group is one of the top reinsurance companies in the world. They also have a meaningful primary insurance segment. Everest Group's quarterly numbers can be volatile, but over a cycle the company produces positive underwriting results. An underwriting loss is the cost of funds from premiums paid to an insurance company. An underwriting profit means that those funds do not have a cost. In fact, it means the insurance company is being paid to keep your money. They are able to invest these funds and earn investment income. Insurance companies that produce underwriting profits should trade at a meaningful premium to tangible book value. Everest Group, on the other hand, trades at a discount to tangible book value. The company realizes that its shares are significantly undervalued and is using its free cash flow to repurchase stock which positively impacts our value per share growth. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to own this well-managed leading insurance company again. |
| RI.PA | Pernod Ricard declined due to concerns about slowing global spirits demand. While these headwinds persist, we remain confident in Pernod's strong brand portfolio and pricing power, which should support long-term prospects. |
| RYAN | Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. is a commercial excess and surplus insurance broker with a delegated authority business. The company was founded by Pat Ryan in 2010. Pat Ryan is one of the insurance industry's crucial pioneers, having also founded Aon where he served as the CEO and Chairman for 41 years. The excess and surplus market has grown at an 11% CAGR while the admitted market has grown at a 4% CAGR over the last 25 years. The portion of Ryan Specialty's business exposed to commercial property is entering a soft pricing cycle, which has pushed the stock well below intrinsic value. |
| SSNC | SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc represents 2.68% of top holdings |
| SW | The investment case for Smurfit Westrock is largely a self-help story, following the merger of the two companies (Smurfi Kappa and Westrock). We believe the best practices in place at Smurfit can be successfully deployed within Westrock, providing an uplift to aggregate margins and profits. We also anticipate a healthier demand environment for the corrugated markets in which the company operates. |
| SWKS | Semiconductor company Skyworks traded down during the quarter on weaker forward guidance and concerns around mobile demand and customer concentration. This occurred despite better-than-expected quarterly results and the announced acquisition of competitor Qorvo, creating a combination of the second- and third-largest players in radio frequency smartphone component suppliers. |
| TRU | TransUnion is one of the three leading credit bureaus in the U.S. They collect consumer borrowing and payment data from over 95,000 financial institutions and generate a credit report and credit score, which is then sold to lenders, insurance companies, landlords, and others. TransUnion has also been diversifying beyond just credit reports and credit scores. Their consumer business includes free and subscription-based tools that enable consumers to manage their personal finances and shop for financial products, including loans and insurance. Lenders, insurance companies, and other financial services companies then purchase leads from TransUnion to target those consumers. TransUnion also has other business lines that utilize its existing consumer data, including insurance, marketing, fraud detection, identity verification, and tenant screening. TransUnion historically has grown organically in the high single digits with an attractive 30% operating margin, generating high returns. They operate in an oligopoly industry and compete with the likes of Experian and Equifax, which are also MVP businesses. They have massive data sets using both public and proprietary data. Their customers embed TransUnion's products into their own workflows. TransUnion has also been successfully deleveraging its balance sheet and is now placing a much greater emphasis on share buybacks. We have followed this business for many years and are happy to own it. |
| UNH | We also added back a full position in UnitedHealth |
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Bought | Shares Bought | % Change | Weight % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Recent Buys Data | |||||
| Ticker | Put/Call | Amount Sold | Shares Sold | % Change | Weight % | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Recent Sells Data | ||||||
| Industry | Prev Quarter % | Current Quarter % | Change |
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| No industry data available | |||
