Leaven Partners lost -4.6% in Q2 2026 as markets rotated aggressively into momentum, AI, and speculative growth at extreme valuations, exemplified by SpaceX's $1.8-2.0 trillion IPO. The fund's value-oriented holdings experienced sustained selling pressure despite sound fundamentals. Manager Brent Jackson maintains disciplined conviction in his value approach, refusing to abandon strategy at peak valuations despite significant underperformance and acknowledging the career risk of staying the course.

Night Watch delivered 12.80% in Q2 by exploiting market bifurcation, buying quality compounders sold off for AI stocks while taking profits in cyclical memory positions. Marex surged 37% on volatility and M&A execution. The fund added Stryker, Adyen, and Booking.com at depressed valuations while Watches of Switzerland accelerates post-tariff removal. Concentrated positions in overlooked aerospace, capital markets, and payments drive 20% annual compounding with low volatility.

Manager aggressively bought application software in H1 2026 at 2-3x sales, down from 8-12x, seeing 30-40%+ IRRs as market indiscriminately sold on AI fears. Portfolio focuses on essential utility software like Workiva (SEC reporting near-monopoly at 2.6x sales, 31% IRR) positioned to benefit from AI rather than be disrupted. Conducted 105 expert calls to validate thesis that nuance between winners and losers is being missed.

Right Tail Capital established a position in HCA Healthcare, the largest US for-profit hospital operator with dominant market positions in high-growth Sunbelt markets. The company generates 20% EBITDA margins, has retired 50% of shares since 2011, and trades at 12x earnings with 10-15% expected annual earnings growth. Despite healthcare reimbursement risks, HCA's operational excellence and financial strength position it to outperform competitors.

Desert Lion Capital delivered +8.3% net year-to-date through June 2026, outperforming the JSE All Share Index by 12.1%. Manager Van Niekerk maintains high conviction in SA small- and mid-cap equities, where capital outflows and market inefficiency have created a compelling valuation opportunity with double-digit growth companies trading at single-digit PEs. The fund holds 8-15 concentrated positions with top 6 representing 86% of assets.

Andvari's vertical software holdings like Constellation and Tyler Technologies deliver strong results with record cash flows and successful cloud transitions. Manager views AI infrastructure buildout as approaching capital cycle peak, with circular financing and unsustainable economics requiring 10% of U.S. GDP to justify valuations. Deliberately underweights pure AI plays despite near-term underperformance, adding only diversified exposure through Amazon, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments while maintaining discipline.

Corporate resilience dominated the first half of 2026 as companies delivered earnings growth exceeding 25% and record profit margins despite geopolitical shocks from Iran conflict. The S&P 500 rose 10% year-to-date driven by fundamentals rather than valuation expansion. AI capital spending accelerated with broadening leadership. Inflation from energy remains the key risk, but cessation of Middle East hostilities could enable a stronger second half.

Q2 2026 delivered a 15 percent S&P 500 rally driven by resilient earnings, AI infrastructure investment, and economic expansion. AI enthusiasm became more selective, favoring companies with measurable results. Interest rates stayed elevated as inflation persisted above Fed targets. After the strong rally, stocks are no longer cheap and future returns will likely depend on continued earnings growth rather than monetary easing.

Resilient Asset Management's Q2 2026 letter celebrates America's 250th birthday rather than discussing portfolio performance. Manager Christopher Flis briefly mentions AI sector strength in Q2 but provides no returns or holdings detail. Drawing on military experience abroad, he argues American exceptionalism stems from unleashing human potential through innovative systems, expressing confidence the United States will remain globally dominant for decades through its unique ability to pivot and innovate.

Black Bear underperformed in Q2 amid market concentration in mega-cap tech, but the manager sees an unusually wide gap between price and value. The portfolio owns cash-generative energy, commodity, and housing businesses at sensible valuations while shorting overleveraged businesses with unrealistic expectations. Many holdings are entering their most cash-generative phases. The manager remains invested alongside partners and expects patience to be rewarded.

Phoenician Capital is actively rotating capital from overvalued positions into undervalued global small- and mid-cap businesses. The manager initiated a position in Halozyme Therapeutics, a biotech generating royalty revenues from drug delivery technology with toll-road economics and high switching costs. Portfolio volatility has been cut in half through tighter position sizing and faster capital redeployment while maintaining the target return profile.

Ennismore's small-cap long/short fund is down 0.7% year-to-date after missing the AI boom, but the manager sees opportunity in the market's extreme attention concentration. The portfolio holds quality, cash-generative businesses buying back stock at depressed valuations, including Wise. The biggest new position is BBB Foods, a Mexican hard discounter with decades of runway attacking an incumbent with structurally higher costs. Neglect is deferring value, not destroying it.

Markets rallied 15% in Q2 recovering Iran war losses as peace framework reversed energy shock. New Fed Chair Warsh surprised with hawkish pivot eliminating forward guidance and signaling possible rate hikes. Performance broadened dramatically with small-caps up 22% and emerging markets up 24% year-to-date. Technology surged 31% on AI earnings strength. Portfolio focus shifts to diversification away from Magnificent Seven concentration into small-caps and international markets while capturing elevated bond yields.

Mar Vista's U.S. Quality strategy returned 12.71% net in Q2 2026, underperforming benchmarks as market leadership broadened beyond technology. The manager maintains conviction in high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages, adding ASML and StandardAero while exiting Intuit. Artificial intelligence is transitioning from infrastructure spending to execution-driven returns. Despite geopolitical uncertainty and elevated valuations in certain areas, earnings growth and disciplined capital allocation should drive long-term outperformance for quality-focused investors.

ClearBridge Value Strategy underperformed in Q2 despite solid absolute returns as AI-led growth rebounded, but value retained a substantial YTD lead. Strong selection in Alphabet, CVS, Micron and Taiwan Semi was offset by energy weakness. Managers added AI infrastructure exposure via Broadcom and AMD, low-cost energy through Diamondback, and Blackstone after private credit concerns created entry points. Focus remains on balance sheets, cash flow and selectivity amid elevated valuations.

Lord Abbett Short Duration Income Fund delivered 0.72% in Q2 2026, navigating a hawkish Fed pivot and persistent inflation. The fund is actively repositioning away from AI-disrupted sectors while favoring AI infrastructure plays and disruption-resistant industries. With credit spreads tight and rate volatility elevated, the portfolio emphasizes high-quality carry over capital appreciation, maintaining balanced risk exposure through AAA-rated securitized products and selective investment grade corporates.

Latitude Global Fund deliberately avoids semiconductor euphoria despite 2026 outperformance, drawing parallels to 2003-2008 mining supercycle that produced zero returns for late entrants. Manager aggressively deployed into healthcare at dot-com-era valuations, doubling UnitedHealth after operational improvements and adding substantially to Cencora and Royalty Pharma. Portfolio up 3.5% year-to-date with conviction that current positioning will deliver superior long-term returns as semiconductor supply investments accelerate cycle reversal.

QV Investors is avoiding AI-related stocks trading at extreme valuations with uncertain long-term value creation, instead deploying capital into quality businesses with durable moats that have been sold down to rare discounts. The firm built positions in Constellation Software and Microsoft where AI disruption concerns are overblown, and added to existing quality holdings as capital chasing the AI narrative creates compelling opportunities in overlooked areas.

Ennismore returned 0.4% in May, down 4.5% year-to-date. The fund initiated a position in MLP SE, a German financial advisory firm trading at twelve times earnings following a profit warning. MLP's 55-year-old network of advisers serving academic professionals creates a defensible franchise benefiting from demographic tailwinds as clients enter peak wealth years. Management targets 50% profit growth by 2028, implying 70%+ upside.

Markets delivered resilient first-half returns despite Iran conflict and persistent inflation. AI capital expenditure boom and exceptionally strong earnings growth provide fundamental support, with US earnings forecast at 22% and European at 18% for 2026. Semiconductor suppliers have captured AI investment benefits, gaining 140% versus flat hyperscaler returns. UK property continues underperforming diversified financial assets as the housing boom's structural drivers remain absent.

Oldfield's concentrated global value fund underperformed in Q2 after strong 18-month results, hurt by early exits from Korean semiconductors and weakness in Stellantis and Barratt Redrow. Stellantis trades at one-tenth of revenues despite management retrenchment. Barratt sells at half book value with attractive long-term fundamentals. Top performers included Kyocera, ArcelorMittal, and Rio Tinto. EasyJet received a takeover bid below intrinsic value.

Southeastern's small-cap fund underperformed dramatically in Q2 as speculative AI-driven mania pushed Russell 2000 IT multiples up 25-40% while their concentrated value portfolio of 16 names trading at mid-50s% P/V declined 2.5%. The manager views current market conditions as bubble territory with both earnings and multiples at historic extremes, maintains high conviction their disciplined approach will prevail, and is actively engaging with management teams to accelerate value realization.

Southeastern's Global Fund significantly underperformed in Q2 2026 due to avoiding overvalued AI and technology stocks the manager views as bubble territory. The concentrated 20-stock portfolio trades at mid-50s% P/V with the lowest multiples of real free cash flow. Active engagement is accelerating value realization across holdings. The manager maintains strong conviction that returns have been deferred, not foregone, positioning for mean reversion with considerably less risk.

Jemekk returned 1.1% in Q2 as hedging costs and gold weakness offset gains from Defence, Healthcare, and Telecom holdings. The fund maintains 72% net long with 18% in precious metals, positioned for Fed rate cuts in 2027 to revive the resource trade. New position Extendicare capitalizes on senior care demographics. Managers watch AI-capex sustainability closely while expecting H2 to mirror Q1's resource-friendly environment.

Global equities surged 14.9% in Q2 2026 as Middle East tensions eased and oil prices fell. AI investment broadened beyond technology, driving strong performance in semiconductor-heavy markets like Taiwan and South Korea. Emerging markets led with 24.1% gains while growth stocks outperformed on strong tech earnings. Despite persistent inflation and higher-for-longer rates, economic resilience and corporate earnings strength supported the rally across diversified exposures.

Castlebay returned 9% in Q2 2026, outperforming the UK market by 5% as capital rotated back to quality. The fund targets high-quality compounders with 37% ROE and 5.5% free cash flow yields trading at attractive valuations. A new position in Spirax Group exemplifies the strategy: a cash-generative industrial business with a structural growth engine in biopharma that the market undervalues. The UK quality re-rating has only just begun.

Nixon Capital argues America's 250-year track record of innovation and resilience creates compelling long-term equity opportunities despite negative sentiment. The manager traces five decades of technological transformation driving cash-flow migration to technology-enabled businesses. While acknowledging inevitable volatility, the firm maintains clear-eyed confidence in American capitalism and positions opportunistically to own premier companies at sensible valuations with a multi-year horizon.

Q2 2026 saw the S&P 500 surge 14.9%, its best quarter in six years, driven by AI and semiconductor strength, with Technology up 31.6% and semiconductors gaining 49.5%. Energy reversed sharply, falling 13.5% on declining oil prices. Market leadership narrowed to record lows despite strong headline returns. Emerging Markets led globally, up 23.4%, while a hawkish Fed pivot on rising inflation introduces uncertainty ahead.

Ophir's +31.8% Global Opportunities Fund return came from pure stock picking across twenty-one winners, not AI exposure. Market breadth finally arrived with small caps outperforming mega caps. Semiconductors and energy infrastructure soared while software applications crashed on AI disruption fears. Ophir holds index weight in AI, betting neither for nor against a bubble. Breadth should continue on falling inflation, Fed easing, and tax cuts.

Sandon Capital's concentrated Australian small-cap activist fund returned -6.1% in June, underperforming benchmarks as QPM Energy entered administration and will be written to zero. Southern Cross Media downgraded guidance while Fleetwood restructures operations. The fund maintains 100% net exposure with zero cash across 23 positions. Top holdings include COG Financial Services (22%), Fleetwood (16%), and BCI Minerals (12%). Annualized returns since 2009 inception remain at 8.5%.

Tectonic delivered 25.3% in Q2 2026, driven by Firmus revaluation to USD 8.5 billion ahead of October IPO. Listed portfolio underperformed as resources rotation failed to materialize while capital flowed to US tech. Manager maintains conviction in resources thesis despite near-term weakness. Interactive Brokers, Sandfire, and Sea Limited contributed positively. BYD declined 32% on China EV pricing pressure. Fund remains closed to new applications ahead of Firmus IPO.

SVN Capital fell 10.3% in H1 2026, driven by KKR's 28% decline on overblown private credit fears. Manager views quality stock underperformance as creating opportunity, maintains conviction in KKR's double-digit operating earnings growth and $20/share unrealized value. Indian holdings remain fundamentally strong despite market rotation to AI beneficiaries. Portfolio positioned in durable franchises with patient capital to benefit from the equity yield curve.

Asian frontier markets delivered strong May 2026 performance led by Uzbekistan's landmark UzNIF IPO and Pakistan's resilient recovery from Middle East conflict volatility. Uzbekistan's capital markets development is accelerating from an extremely low base while Vietnam shows a historic valuation disconnect with the fund's portfolio at 8.8x earnings despite 40% earnings growth. Iraq's banks are paying exceptional dividends. Geopolitical risks remain elevated but fundamentals and valuations support long-term conviction.

Kingdom Capital delivered 11.97% net in Q2 and 20.94% year-to-date through concentrated special situations investing. The fund filed its first 5% position in Beasley Broadcasting, where debt restructuring created aligned incentives to monetize assets worth an estimated $200 per share. Re-entries into Entravision's Smadex ad-tech platform and Core Natural Resources coal assets drove performance. The opportunity set remains rich.

Robinson Opportunistic Income Fund identified an arbitrage opportunity in private credit CEFs trading at discounts comparable to the Great Financial Crisis and moved to overweight despite near-term underperformance. New Fed Chairman Warsh's hawkish stance shifted expectations to rate hikes, benefiting the Fund's floating rate exposure. Long-term fiscal deficit concerns support the strategy of being long corporate credit and short Treasuries.

Pittenger & Anderson maintains a positive long-term equity outlook despite elevated inflation and concentrated AI-driven market leadership. The first half of 2026 delivered over 10% S&P 500 returns amid the historic SpaceX IPO and U.S.-Iran peace agreement. Small caps outperformed in June, suggesting potential rotation from mega-cap technology. The firm advises clients to remain fully invested and diversified, emphasizing that patient investors have historically been rewarded.

East Capital delivered 13% alpha in Q2 2026 through concentrated exposure to Korean and Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturers benefiting from AI-driven memory demand. The manager expects memory prices to rise 40-50% in Q3 2026 as capacity constraints persist into 2028. Beyond semiconductors, the fund is adding overlooked opportunities in Korean consumer names and Nigerian banks trading at 3-5x earnings with 27-29% ROE, while valuations across India and Brazil have become increasingly attractive.

Troy Global Equity Strategy underperformed significantly in H1 2026 by avoiding overvalued semiconductors and tech hardware despite AI-driven market gains. The portfolio holds quality businesses facing temporary headwinds: Visa navigating payment disruption fears, Alcon executing through product cycle challenges, and Amadeus weathering AI concerns. Trading at meaningful discounts with superior economics, these positions offer compelling risk-reward as market concentration reaches historic extremes.

Indian value manager delivered 12.4% YTD returns with portfolio earnings up 34% despite market volatility from US-Iran conflict. Maintains aggressive stance at 82% equity exposure, adding to concentrated positions in high-quality businesses with 43% ROIC. Faces headwinds from capital flowing to AI themes and moderating retail investor flows, but sees opportunity in disciplined rejection-first approach focusing on exceptional businesses trading below intrinsic value.

DoubleLine Capital sees securitized products offering compelling income in a higher-for-longer rate environment. Agency MBS outperformed Treasuries in Q2 with spreads at 107 bps, supported by strong demand and anchored prepayments. Record ABS issuance driven by digital infrastructure and AI financing reinforces the investment case. While broad spread tightening is limited, attractive carry and disciplined security selection across higher-quality assets position portfolios for resilient performance.

Hood River's International Opportunity Fund outperformed by +19.14% in Q2 2026, driven by stock selection in international small-caps where market inefficiencies reward fundamental research. Japan's corporate governance reforms, AI ecosystem opportunities beyond U.S. mega-caps, and favorable semiconductor cycle dynamics drove performance. Top contributors included Kioxia Holdings, MDA Space, Super Group, and eDreams ODIGEO. The portfolio shifted toward consumer exposure while trimming technology. International equities offer compelling active management opportunities.

TIFF navigates concentrated AI-driven market leadership with caution, flagging demanding valuations in semiconductors and unprecedented IPO supply from SpaceX, Anthropic, and Open AI that may pressure broader equities. The firm maintains benchmark-aware positioning while introducing factor-neutral overlays to reduce unintended style risk. Forward focus includes evaluating cross-sector AI exposure, adding Japan activists, and shifting toward systematic strategies anticipating higher volatility amid constructive but complex macro backdrop.

Markets delivered strong Q2 2026 returns led by emerging markets and small caps, with the S&P 500 gaining 15.20%. Despite Iran conflict volatility in March, markets recovered fully by June, driven by exceptional corporate earnings with 85% of companies beating estimates. Wall Street raised 2026 EPS growth forecasts from 13% to 22%. Earnings fundamentals continue to trump geopolitical headlines as the key market driver.