Wasatch Small Cap Growth suffered its worst year in 25+ years due to avoiding speculative biotech and AI-related stocks that led markets. Despite solid portfolio fundamentals with superior ROA/ROE metrics, quality was out of favor. Managers remain disciplined, avoiding low-quality momentum plays, positioning for eventual rotation back to fundamentally sound businesses at attractive relative valuations.

Angel Oak High Yield Opportunities ETF's strategy centers on consumer and corporate resilience driving economic strength despite tight credit spreads. The fund emphasizes high-quality issuers with strong fundamentals while gradually reducing securitized credit exposure. Fed rate cuts and 2026 policy changes should support continued growth, though disciplined selection remains critical given limited spread compression room.

Cedar Creek delivered 29.6% returns in 2025 through concentrated microcap value investing, particularly expert market securities and community banks. Major new position in natural gas producer Exco Resources positioned for production growth. Defense contractor Solitron shows record bookings. Portfolio trades at 7.1x forward earnings with strong fundamentals and clear catalysts for value realization.

Polen Global Growth's quality-focused approach faced headwinds in Q4 as markets favored high-beta growth, resulting in -2.5% gross returns versus +3.3% for MSCI ACWI. Oracle's OpenAI-related concerns offset strong performance from Eli Lilly's GLP-1 momentum. New positions in Tencent and Spotify reflect emerging opportunities while maintaining focus on long-term competitive advantages.

Columbia Global Technology Growth Fund underperformed in Q4 2025 despite strong AI-driven semiconductor performance from Taiwan Semiconductor, Micron, and Lam Research. Alphabet reclaimed AI leadership with Gemini 3, while Oracle and Netflix faced headwinds. The manager maintains conviction in early-stage AI secular trends, emphasizing patient capital allocation to higher-conviction technology opportunities over the long term.

Logica's volatility strategies delivered positive returns in 2025 despite falling VIX, with April's market stress validating their convexity approach. December's compressed volatility prompted increased Vega exposure based on positive expectancy models, accepting higher costs for enhanced protection. The team emphasizes that rare events occur far more frequently than traditional models suggest, maintaining structural readiness for inevitable market turbulence.

Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund outperformed by 359bp in Q4 through selective AI infrastructure plays, overweighting semiconductor equipment companies like Lam Research while underweighting NVIDIA. The fund's out-of-benchmark Bloom Energy position addresses critical data center power constraints. Despite AI capex volatility, strong fundamentals support continued infrastructure build-out with hyperscaler commitment to GPU and memory spending.

Danaher represents the power of founder-led ownership in creating long-term value. The Rales brothers transformed a diversified conglomerate into a pure-play bioprocessing leader through strategic spin-offs and acquisitions, compounding at 21% annually over 40 years. This patient capital approach and willingness to abandon successful strategies when necessary exemplifies superior risk-adjusted decision making.

Liberty Park Fund declined 7.36% in Q4 2025, maintaining contrarian positioning against the AI bubble. Despite trillions in AI spending, revenue generation remains minimal, creating unsustainable valuations reminiscent of dot-com excess. With Fed rate cuts nearing neutral, the manager expects inevitable market reset favoring fundamental analysis over speculation, positioning portfolios accordingly.

TimesSquare's small-cap growth strategy outperformed in Q4 2025, driven by cybersecurity demand benefiting JFrog and FDA approvals boosting medical device companies like Ceribell. The portfolio spans specialty retail, biotechnology, and nuclear energy with focus on quality management and competitive advantages. Consumer caution and market quality bias present risks while AI adoption and tax legislation provide potential catalysts.

TimesSquare's mid-cap growth strategy delivered 9.36% net returns in 2025 despite Q4 underperformance. The manager actively repositioned the portfolio, adding to gaming and cybersecurity winners while exiting challenged positions in insurance and building materials. Strong healthcare and industrial holdings drove performance. Looking ahead, the manager expects AI adoption acceleration and infrastructure spending catalysts to benefit portfolio companies.

Artisan Small Cap Fund delivered strong Q4 outperformance as markets refocused on profit-driven fundamentals over risk-taking. The team maintains conviction in AI semiconductors, defense aerospace, and biotechnology themes while managing positions with valuation discipline. Portfolio positioning reflects deepening conviction across industrials and healthcare, with the profit cycle approach well-suited for the current environment favoring quality over speculation.

AI productivity gains are creating ideal market conditions with solid growth, strong profits, and contained inflation supporting equity valuations. However, extreme market concentration in mega-caps creates risks. Geopolitical shifts including Venezuela's regime change offer energy opportunities. The firm maintains diversified positioning across inflation-resilient sectors while favoring intermediate-duration, high-quality fixed income to balance growth opportunities with concentration risks.

TimesSquare's concentrated mid-cap growth strategy outperformed benchmarks in 2025 despite Q4 volatility, delivering 13.88% net returns through fundamental stock selection. The portfolio spans technology, healthcare, industrials, and energy with new defense exposure via Karman Holdings. Management expects AI adoption acceleration and trade policy changes to drive 2026 opportunities while maintaining focus on quality companies with sustainable competitive advantages.

Holland Advisors targets 15% compound returns by investing in owner-managed companies with sustainable competitive advantages at attractive prices. 2025 delivered 12.3% net returns. Manager sees AI productivity potential benefiting Amazon, TSMC, and Meta. Trump uncertainty balanced by regulatory pullback benefits. Focus remains on long-term capital compounding through global quality businesses with customer-centric cultures and strong competitive moats.

Smead Value Fund's concentrated contrarian approach delivered positive returns despite Q4 underperformance versus the S&P 500. Healthcare stocks recovered while homebuilders remained pressured by rates. The managers believe current market extremes mirror historical bubbles and position for outperformance as capital rotates from overvalued growth stocks into deeply discounted value sectors over the next decade.

PGIM Global Total Return Fund remains guardedly optimistic on the yield-driven bond bull market continuation, expecting high range-bound yields to generate solid returns through income rather than price appreciation. With credit spreads tight and volatility likely rising in 2026, the fund favors carry instruments and lighter risk positioning while seeing opportunities in emerging markets and duration management.

Platinum Global Fund delivered strong 16% annual returns in 2025 under new manager David Steinthal. The portfolio concentrates in mega-cap technology and payments leaders like Microsoft, Amazon, and Visa across global markets. Heavy technology weighting at 34% and minimal 2% cash position reflects confident deployment in established market-leading companies.

Platinum International Fund outperformed with 13.1% annual returns despite geopolitical uncertainty and AI disruption debates. Portfolio remains concentrated in quality businesses like AerCap, Alphabet, and TSMC while avoiding consumer-exposed names. K-shaped economic recovery continues favoring affluent segments. Political wildcards and market dispersion demand disciplined bottom-up selection over speculation, with strong investment pipeline supporting near-full deployment.

Renaissance's Large Cap Growth strategy underperformed in Q4 as narrow mega-cap tech leadership continued. Portfolio benefited from AI winners Alphabet and Applied Materials but was hurt by Fiserv irregularities and Netflix's expensive Warner Bros. bid. Extreme valuation gaps between mega-cap and equal-weighted stocks suggest better relative performance ahead for reasonably priced growth companies.

Renaissance's international small cap strategy outperformed in Q4 2025, driven by AI beneficiary Tower Semiconductor and strategic positioning in gold mining through Aris Mining addition. Despite tariff uncertainties for 2026, international small caps offer compelling value at 33% discount to U.S. peers with double-digit earnings growth expected.

Asian markets surged on AI enthusiasm, with semiconductors leading gains. Chinese financials rebounded as government signaled end to unlimited property developer support, creating re-rating opportunity. Added autonomous vehicle exposure via Pony AI on improving unit economics. Despite AI bubble fears, attractive opportunities persist across technology transformation, financial sector rebalancing, and consumer franchise turnarounds for patient capital.

Crypto endured a challenging 2025 with Bitcoin down 6% and broader tokens declining 60%, driven by macro volatility rather than fundamentals. Despite headwinds including value accrual issues and capital rotation, institutional adoption accelerates and product-market fit emerges. With sentiment washed out and significant repricing complete, 2026 setup appears asymmetric favoring consolidation over speculation.

Platinum Technology Fund returned 13% in 2025 by rotating from threatened big tech incumbents into AI infrastructure beneficiaries. Manager Jimmy Su sees massive capex cycle ahead, with semiconductor and power companies winning while traditional platforms face AI disruption. Portfolio emphasizes datacenter buildout, defense spending, and power generation while reducing exposure to advertising-dependent consumer internet giants.

NCG's Micro Cap strategy underperformed in 2025 due to market preference for low-quality biotech and speculative stocks over their quality-focused holdings. Despite near-term headwinds, the firm sees improving small cap fundamentals with positive earnings growth, Fed support, and attractive valuations. They remain committed to investing in high-quality growth companies for long-term outperformance.

PGIM Core Bond outperformed in Q4 through sector allocation favoring CLOs and CMBS over investment grade credit. Fund positioned for continued yield-driven bull market with high range-bound rates generating returns through income accretion. Maintains lighter risk stance while preparing for higher volatility, expecting positive but narrower spread returns and long-term fixed income outperformance versus cash.

Brand-focused fund underperformed as AI stocks dominated Q4 2025 gains while consumer sectors lagged. Despite operational excellence from portfolio companies like Wolverine Worldwide and e.l.f. Beauty, share prices declined on consumer spending concerns. Manager views current weakness as opportunity to accumulate quality businesses at attractive valuations, positioning for long-term outperformance when market focus shifts from AI speculation.

NCG's small cap growth strategy faced headwinds in 2025 as quality factors worked against active managers, with low-quality stocks significantly outperforming their high-quality holdings. Despite relative underperformance, they maintain conviction in their disciplined approach and see improving conditions ahead with positive small cap earnings growth, Fed rate cuts, and attractive relative valuations supporting future outperformance.

NCG delivered solid absolute returns but lagged benchmarks as quality factors headwinds persisted through 2025. Low-quality speculative stocks dramatically outperformed their high-quality growth focus. Despite near-term challenges, the firm maintains conviction in their proven investment philosophy and sees improving conditions ahead, particularly for small caps benefiting from Fed cuts and pro-growth policies.

Oldfield Partners maintains its value discipline, investing in sound companies at low valuations while avoiding forecasting. Despite market unpredictability demonstrated in 2025, they see attractive opportunities emerging from performance polarization. Using concentrated but diversified portfolios, they focus on areas offering good value, particularly highlighting UK market potential where reality may exceed pessimistic market expectations.

NCG's SMID Cap strategy underperformed in 2025 as quality factors worked against active managers, with speculative low-quality stocks significantly outperforming. The firm maintained discipline investing in high-quality growth companies despite headwinds. They're optimistic on small caps given positive earnings growth trends, Fed rate cuts, and pro-growth policies creating improving fundamentals.

Ophir delivered strong 2025 performance through pure stock selection, with Global Opportunities Fund returning 25.6% after fees. Despite continued large cap tech dominance, small cap earnings expectations are finally improving relative to large caps for the first time since 2022. This missing catalyst, combined with supportive economic factors, positions small caps for sustained outperformance in 2026.

Meridian Hedged Equity Fund returned 0.08% in Q4 2025, underperforming the S&P 500's 2.66% gain. The fund employs a hedged equity strategy combining quality long positions with covered calls for downside protection. Gaming and energy holdings drove performance, while food and sports betting names detracted. Management expects continued volatility but remains focused on high-quality businesses with durable competitive advantages.

Mondrian's international value strategy outperformed by 240bps in Q4 2025, driven by UK utilities and German logistics selections. SSE benefited from infrastructure investment plans while Deutsche Post showed pricing power resilience. The portfolio trades at attractive 14.4x P/E with 3.6% yield, positioned defensively amid market volatility from AI bubble concerns and economic uncertainty.

Meridian Contrarian Fund's disciplined value approach delivered 2.18% in Q4 2025, with Dollar Tree and Aritzia driving outperformance through operational improvements and growth acceleration. The concentrated 50-75 position portfolio targets turnaround situations in AI, electrification, and defense themes. Despite near-term headwinds from rate uncertainty, the fund maintains conviction in quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages trading at attractive valuations.

Meridian Growth Fund underperformed in Q4 2025 despite strong healthcare sector allocation. The quality-focused strategy faced headwinds from lower-quality stock outperformance but demonstrated downside protection during market declines. Management maintains conviction in high-quality businesses with sustainable competitive advantages, viewing current positioning as well-suited to navigate market uncertainty and capitalize on long-term value creation opportunities.

Meridian Small Cap Growth Fund returned 0.90% in Q4 2025, underperforming its benchmark due to quality bias headwinds. Healthcare overweight drove performance as the sector led markets. The fund emphasizes high-quality businesses with recurring revenue and competitive advantages, prioritizing downside protection. Biotech holdings including Structure Therapeutics and Axogen contributed positively amid promising clinical developments.

Harbor Capital Appreciation Fund underperformed in Q4 2025 amid AI infrastructure spending concerns and valuation pressures. Health Care selections led by Eli Lilly's GLP-1 recovery contributed positively while tech holdings faced headwinds. The fund added Amphenol and Merck while exiting Nike. Management expects continued policy-driven unpredictability in 2026 but maintains focus on high-quality growth companies.

Harbor Mid Cap Value Fund outperformed its benchmark by 265 basis points in Q4, driven by strong stock selection in AI-beneficiary Sandisk, record truck sales at General Motors, and positive clinical results at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The fund continues finding attractive opportunities in mid-cap value stocks despite broader market strength in AI-related names.

Guinness Global Energy targets long-term capital growth through concentrated exposure to global energy equities. The investment thesis relies on population growth, industrialisation, and diminishing fossil fuel supplies driving energy prices higher. The fund uses a balanced top-down/bottom-up approach with value bias, holding approximately 30 large-cap energy companies across the value chain.

White Falcon delivered 28.4% returns in 2025 through concentrated value investing in quality companies. Three-year CAGR of 25.9% demonstrates consistent outperformance. Portfolio benefits from precious metals hedge, semiconductor AI exposure, and contrarian positions in solar and chemicals. Despite elevated market valuations, disciplined approach creates opportunities by focusing on intrinsic value gaps and turning volatility into strategic positioning.

SMID Cap portfolio matched benchmark in Q4 with Value factors driving performance. Top performers included AerCap, White Mountains, and Waters, while Zebra, NewMarket, and Lamb Weston detracted. Manager sees late-cycle risks emerging but believes environment favoring quality fundamentals over multiple expansion, positioning portfolio in companies with strong returns, conservative leverage, and reasonable valuations.

Income Equity underperformed in Q4 as Value factors outweighed Quality characteristics. Data center demand drove outperformance in Cummins, Cisco, and Corning, while Nintendo, Fastenal, and BlackRock lagged. The manager maintains focus on quality companies with strong balance sheets and dividend capacity, expecting fundamentals to matter more as market leadership broadens beyond narrow tech concentration.

London Company's Large Cap portfolio underperformed in Q4 as quality factors faced headwinds while volatility led returns. Strong performers included Alphabet, FedEx, and Chubb, while Fiserv was sold after disappointing results. The manager remains focused on high-quality companies with strong cash generation and reasonable valuations, believing the environment is shifting toward fundamentals-based investing.

London Company Small Cap outperformed in Q4 with disciplined stock selection as value factors dominated. Strong contributors included White Mountains' 4x Bamboo platform return and Revolve's tariff-resilient rally. The firm initiated CCC Intelligent Solutions, seeing monopoly-like auto claims software at attractive valuation. Portfolio positioned for fundamentals-driven market environment with quality companies offering strong returns on capital.

Smead International Value Fund delivered 39% returns in 2025 by capitalizing on Europe's transition from story-driven to analytical investing. European banks drove performance through disciplined capital allocation and consolidation while energy positions benefit from constrained global supply dynamics. The concentrated value approach targets undervalued securities as markets shift toward logos-based decision making.

Atherean maintains valuation discipline amid 5.3% GDP growth and elevated S&P 500 multiples at 22x forward earnings. Speculative sentiment is rampant with margin debt up 35% to $1.2T. They took no new positions in Q4, preferring lower-multiple stocks with steady growth over higher-multiple names dependent on spectacular futures in this overheated market environment.

Pernas Portfolio outperformed the S&P 500 by 36.4% in 2025 despite volatile conditions and initial missteps around Trump's Liberation Day. The manager advocates abandoning mean reversion strategies in favor of recognizing structural changes driven by AI, economic shifts, and geopolitical dynamics. Portfolio focuses on a barbell of AI winners and mislabeled AI losers.

International equities structurally outperformed U.S. markets in 2025 for the first time this decade, driven by dollar weakness, attractive foreign valuations, and slowing U.S. tech momentum. The Composite returned 26.82% versus 21.60% for MSCI World, led by Korean memory manufacturers benefiting from AI demand. The disciplined value approach continues finding compelling opportunities in targeted global markets.

Polaris International Equity delivered exceptional 35.37% annual returns, significantly outperforming benchmarks as international markets reversed decade-long U.S. leadership. Korean memory giants and European industrials drove performance amid favorable valuations and weaker dollar. Portfolio maintains disciplined focus on quality cash-generating companies with shareholder-friendly management. International equities remain compelling for 2026 given attractive valuations and diversification benefits.