Investment Pitches

Pitch Summary:
Henry Schein (HSIC) Henry Schein is the leading distributor of dental products in the U.S. and various countries around the world. The company also distributes more general healthcare products. Within its core Dental business, the company holds the leading market share position in all major countries (52% of Dental sales are from the U.S., 28% EMEA, 20% Canada/RoW) in which it operates – generally holding ~25-40% share. Historically, the company has been a slow, steady and mostly a-cyclical grower. In January 2025, KKR announced an agreement to take a strategic stake in Henry Schein. Given their now-15% stake (up from an initial 12%), KKR has actively worked with the board and management to enhance shareholder value. In addition to cost controls, the company has also focused on and seen accelerated growth in its smaller, but (much) higher margin segments (Specialty Products, which includes the company’s private label offerings, and Technology). At just 15x 2026 consensus earnings (vs. 12-25x historically), with a highly defensive business model, and optionality surrounding KKR’s stake and involvement (continue to improve the business or potentially take it private), HSIC shares appear attractive. Key risks for the company and shares include: uncertainty surrounding KKR’s stake, CEO transition (potentially a positive as efficiency efforts accelerate, but still presents uncertainty), consolidating end markets, and broader healthcare policy uncertainty.

BSD Analysis:
Henry Schein’s moat is distribution scale plus workflow integration in dental and medical practices. Switching distributors is operationally painful, even if margins are thin. Growth depends on procedure volumes and practice economics. Pricing power is limited, so execution matters relentlessly. The risk is private-label pressure and customer consolidation. Software and services add stickiness but require continued investment. The bull case is steady healthcare utilization normalization. Henry Schein is a durable operator in a low-margin ecosystem.

Pitch Summary:
Fanuc (6954-JP) Upslope first initiated a “Starter” position in Fanuc in April 2025. It has been an undisclosed Starter since and has grown (both organically and inorganically) into a full-sized position. A somewhat belated overview of Upslope’s thesis is below. Based in Japan, Fanuc is a global leader in industrial automation. The company holds ~50% market share in CNCs (effectively the brains/controllers of automated industrial machinery) and is a leading player in factory robotics. End markets served include (largest to smallest): general industrial/manufacturing, automotive, electronics, and aerospace. Geographically, Fanuc is highly diversified, with ~23% of sales from China (down sharply in recent years), 20% U.S., 18% Europe, and 14% Japan. Given Fanuc’s dominant, embedded position in industrial automation and robotics, few companies appear better positioned to benefit from the potential move of AI into the “physical” world. Rising trade barriers, which effectively boost global reshoring, should also provide an overall tailwind for Fanuc’s products and services. While shares have rebounded sharply over the last few quarters, valuation is not unreasonable today at ~20x forward EBITDA – particularly considering consensus estimates that assume only modest (LSD%) revenue growth and margin expansion in the years ahead. Like many leading Japanese industrials, the company has a fortress balance sheet, with no debt and cash of ~2.5x EBITDA. Key risks for the company and shares include: significant exposure to China (uncertain macro and significant competition), highly cyclical product and end market exposure (e.g. autos), FX, and general political/policy uncertainty (given exposure to global trade).

BSD Analysis:
FANUC’s moat is reliability and installed base in factory automation where downtime is unacceptable. The brand stands for precision, not speed of innovation. Cyclicality is unavoidable as customers delay capex during downturns. Margins expand sharply in recoveries due to operating leverage. The risk is slower automation adoption than expected or rising competition from lower-cost rivals. FANUC’s conservatism protects margins but can cap growth. The bull case is long-term automation demand resuming. FANUC compounds in cycles, not straight lines.

Pitch Summary:
Crown Holdings (CCK) Crown is a leading global producer of aluminum beverage cans (80% of sales) and transit packaging/equipment (20%). The company is highly diversified by geography, with 60% of sales generated outside of the United States and 34% from emerging and frontier markets. Upslope has been both long and short (e.g. following a misguided acquisition that management seems to have learned the right lessons from) in the past. While defensive stocks have been extremely out of favor for some time, Crown has continued to execute well, seeing steady growth and positive earnings revisions. As a result of this and the unfavorable environment for defensives, shares have remained cheap at just 13x earnings and 8x EBITDA (the latter effectively sitting near 10-year lows). At the same time, leverage (2.5x net) and share count (-15% in 5 years) are also at decade lows. This – a cheap, economically defensive stock with healthy secular trends, balance sheet optionality, and an active buyback – seems like a particularly attractive setup for a market environment marked by high macro uncertainty and aggressive valuations. Key risks for the company and shares include: FX (most of sales are outside of the US), volume headwinds for beer/soda end markets, commodity pressure (generally pass throughs are tight, but occasionally issues pop up), and cyclical risk for the transit packaging unit.

BSD Analysis:
Crown’s moat is scale manufacturing plus customer entrenchment in beverage and food packaging. Aluminum cans benefit structurally from sustainability narratives, but margins remain volume-driven. Capital intensity is high, which magnifies mistakes. Pricing power exists through contracts, not branding. The risk is overcapacity if demand growth disappoints. Input cost volatility adds noise, not thesis risk. The bull case is steady volume growth and disciplined capex. Crown is an industrial cash-flow story, not a rerating play.

Pitch Summary:
Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) Booz Allen is a consulting firm focused largely on serving the nation’s defense (~50% of revenue), intelligence (~15%) and civil (~35%) agencies. The company’s work is mostly focused on technology solutions – e.g. digital transformation, cyber defense, and AI deployment. Following the 2024 election of the Trump administration, BAH shares rapidly de-rated from a peak of nearly 30x EPS to a recent trough of 14x – largely due to “DOGE” cost-cutting fears. While BAH has seen earnings and contract award headwinds under the new administration, Upslope’s view is that these will prove temporary and that the stock’s current valuation more than compensates investors for short-term challenges and uncertainty. More importantly, Booz should continue to benefit from severa; accelerating or stable long-term secular tailwinds: rising geopolitical risks, rapidly evolving technology usage and threats, and expanding size of government. While this last point (expanding government) was called into question over the past year, Upslope believes that betting on the government – especially the defense and national security arms – to shrink over the long-run is a very poor bet to make. Key risks for the company and shares include: government budget and political uncertainty, general technology risks, labor inflation, recent CFO departure, and potential easing of geopolitical tensions.

BSD Analysis:
Booz Allen’s moat is embeddedness inside U.S. government missions where trust and clearance matter more than price. Revenue visibility is strong because contracts roll rather than churn. Growth is steady, not explosive, reflecting budget realities. Margin expansion is capped by labor intensity and wage inflation. Competition exists, but displacement risk is low once programs are live. The bull case is sustained defence, cyber, and intelligence spend. The bear case is margin compression from labor costs or budget freezes. Booz Allen is infrastructure consulting—durable, but not high-growth.

Pitch Summary:
Tantalus Systems operates in the grid optimization and modernization market, providing smart meters and data analytics software that help utilities modernize infrastructure and support the energy transition through improved grid efficiency. The company was among the Fund’s top contributors in 2025 and continues to rank as a core holding. Utilities are increasingly investing in grid resilience, efficiency, and data-driven decision making. Tantalus is well positioned to benefit from these trends as modernization efforts accelerate. We expect these secular tailwinds to intensify into 2026.

BSD Analysis:
Tantalus sells grid-edge intelligence to electric utilities that move slowly, buy cautiously, and rarely rip out what’s already installed. The moat is regulatory embedment and workflow inertia: once a utility standardizes on a communications and data layer, switching is painful and politically fraught. Revenue quality improves materially after deployment, but sales cycles are long and visibility is uneven. Growth is driven by mandates—grid modernization, reliability, and resiliency—rather than discretionary IT spend. The risk is timing: projects slip, budgets reset, and “inevitable” upgrades take longer than investors expect. Scale is still modest, which limits operating leverage and bargaining power. The bull case is accelerating utility digitization with rising recurring software and services mix. Tantalus works as infrastructure software, but patience is the price of admission.

Pitch Summary:
5N Plus develops, manufactures, and distributes specialty semiconductor and performance materials critical to industries tied to the energy transition and defense, including solar, space, and advanced electronics. The company was a top contributor to Fund performance in 2025 and remains a core position. Demand for its materials continues to benefit from long-term structural trends in energy transition technologies and national security-related spending. Management has executed well in aligning production with high-value end markets. We believe these secular forces will remain supportive as we move into 2026.

BSD Analysis:
5N Plus operates in specialty materials where process know-how matters more than branding, but end markets still dictate returns. The moat is technical expertise in high-purity materials used in renewables, electronics, and advanced industrial applications. That said, demand is policy- and cycle-sensitive, making revenue less predictable than the “clean tech” narrative implies. Contract structure and pricing discipline determine whether margins are earned or given back. Capital intensity raises the cost of mistakes, especially when volumes soften. The bull case is sustained demand from energy transition and semiconductor adjacencies with better contract economics. The bear case is overcapacity, pricing pressure, and policy-driven demand volatility. 5N Plus is an execution-heavy industrial story—returns hinge on discipline, not hype.

Pitch Summary:
Targa Resources is a leading midstream natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) company. Targa is part of a group that controls 90% of the fractionation capacity in the largest hub for NGLs in the world, known as Mont Belvieu. Targa benefits from meaningful cost advantages and significant barriers to entry. We like that Targa generates approximately 90% of its earnings through multi-year fee-based arrangements with its customer base, which provides protection against oversupply or re-contracting. Uncertainty around Permian oil production growth has recently weighed on the share price. However, in our view, Targa remains well-positioned to grow, even if the Permian slows dramatically. We were happy to purchase shares at a discount to peers based on normalized earnings power and our estimate of intrinsic value.

BSD Analysis:
Targa’s moat is infrastructure position in key U.S. gas and NGL basins. Volume growth matters more than commodity prices, but cycles still leak through. Capital discipline has improved materially. Customer concentration exists but is manageable. The bull case is continued U.S. energy throughput growth. The bear case is capex overreach or basin slowdown. Cash flow durability has improved. Targa is a higher-quality midstream operator.

Pitch Summary:
Paycom Software was the top detractor during the quarter. The U.S.-headquartered human resources and employment services company’s stock price declined alongside peers due to broad underperformance in the application software sector. We continue to believe Paycom has a long runway for future growth and that system-of-record software companies like Paycom will not be replaced by AI. We appreciate management’s focus on ramping share repurchases, which we believe will add significant per-share value at today’s stock price.

BSD Analysis:
Paycom’s moat is single-database payroll simplicity, which resonates with mid-market clients. Switching costs are meaningful once embedded. Growth has slowed as penetration increases. Pricing power exists but is not limitless. Competition from broader HCM suites is constant. Execution matters more than product now. The bull case is durable cash flow with modest growth. Paycom is a solid platform facing maturity.

Pitch Summary:
Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) was the top contributor during the quarter. The U.S.-headquartered media company’s stock price surged as multiple parties submitted offers to acquire all or part of the business. Following several rounds of bidding, WBD announced an agreement to sell its Streaming and Studios business to Netflix, while spinning the Global Networks business to shareholders. Paramount Skydance subsequently made a direct $30 per share offer to shareholders for the entire company. We are pleased with the steps the WBD board has taken thus far to unlock shareholder value. We will continue to closely monitor developments as this bidding war unfolds.

BSD Analysis:
WBD is a leveraged content library with structural industry headwinds. Streaming economics are harder than promised, and scale doesn’t guarantee profits. Linear TV decline continues to erode cash flow. Debt magnifies every strategic misstep. The bull case is disciplined content spending and free cash flow generation. The bear case is perpetual reinvestment with no rerating. Assets are valuable, equity is fragile. WBD is an execution stress test.

Pitch Summary:
Sanofi is a global pharmaceutical company developing biologics, vaccines and healthcare solutions to prevent and treat a wide range of conditions in immunology, hemophilia, rare diseases and general medicine. The company is best-known for its blockbuster drug, Dupixent, a fast-growing biologic that provides doctors with a single, versatile therapy for multiple inflammatory conditions, combining strong efficacy with a clean safety profile. Beyond Dupixent, we think there is a lot to be excited about as management has prioritized innovation by aggressively investing in research and development to cultivate a pipeline of promising products. Despite strong fundamentals, the stock has been weighed down by a volatile year for the vaccine market, investor concerns about patent cliffs and minimal value ascription to its pipeline. This created the opportunity for us to invest in a company we believe is improving, with a long runway for future growth as vaccine markets normalize and new product potential is realized.

BSD Analysis:
Sanofi is rebuilding toward an innovation-led pharma model after years of underperformance. Dupixent anchors cash flow and credibility. The pipeline must deliver to justify renewed confidence. Pricing pressure and patent cliffs never disappear. Execution risk is lower than peers, but upside is capped without breakthroughs. The bull case is steady pipeline validation. The bear case is stagnation masked by cost control. Sanofi is improving—but still proving itself.

Pitch Summary:
Alibaba Group was the top detractor during the quarter. The China-headquartered technology conglomerate’s stock price declined as it reported mixed results. The core E-commerce business continues to perform well, and Cloud revenue growth is accelerating. However, the company’s earnings were negatively impacted due to significant spending on subsidies to grow their Quick Commerce business, in our opinion. We believe losses from Quick Commerce will be reduced over time and continue to believe the company is well-positioned for long-term growth, having been one of the early investors in Chinese AI. Over time, we think it can leverage its advanced capabilities and leading market position to unlock further value.

BSD Analysis:
Alibaba is still a cash-generating platform at scale, but equity holders operate under rules that can change without notice. Core commerce is mature and increasingly promotional, which caps margin recovery even when volumes stabilize. Cloud was supposed to be the second engine, yet returns have disappointed and capital intensity keeps the multiple grounded. The real overhang isn’t competition—it’s governance and policy priority, which override shareholder optimization. Buybacks help optics but don’t fix control risk. Optionality exists across logistics, local services, and international platforms, but value realization depends on permission, not execution. The bull case is that pessimism has overshot fundamentals and cash flows grind higher. The bear case is that the discount is structural, not cyclical, and never fully closes.

Pitch Summary:
Bayer was the top contributor during the quarter. Two anticipated events developed in the company’s favor. First, Bayer enjoyed a positive readout on the company’s stroke drug, Asundexian, which met its primary endpoint in a recent phase III trial. Asundexian has the potential to be a blockbuster and support a return to growth for the Pharmaceuticals business, in our opinion. Second, the United States Solicitor General recommended that the Supreme Court hear Bayer’s appeal in Durnell v. Monsanto, increasing the odds that the RoundUp matter is heard by the Court. Both events support our investment thesis for Bayer as management works to turn around fundamental performance and contain litigation risk.

BSD Analysis:
Bayer’s moat is fragmented across pharma, ag science, and consumer—but so are its risks. Monsanto litigation remains a permanent valuation anchor. Pharma execution matters more now that diversification failed to protect returns. Capital allocation credibility is fragile. The bull case is legal resolution plus pipeline delivery. The bear case is continued cash drain and strategic paralysis. Asset quality exists, but complexity destroys clarity. Bayer is a turnaround with legal gravity.

Pitch Summary:
Mondelēz International is a global snacking powerhouse with leading market share positions in crackers, cookies and chocolate. The brand portfolio houses iconic names like Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Oreo and Ritz. Mondelēz possesses a unique global footprint that over-indexes to snacking occasions. Snacking is an advantaged category that benefits from robust pricing power, low private label competition and rising per capita consumption. We believe these attributes will help Mondelēz sustain industry-leading growth. A rapid rise in commodity costs has temporarily depressed margins, masking the company’s true earnings power. We believe Mondelēz’s strong pricing power and commodity relief will help improve margins. The short-term fears surrounding commodity inflation allowed us to purchase shares at a discounted valuation relative to history, peers and the broader market.

BSD Analysis:
Mondelēz owns snack brands that monetize habit rather than indulgence. Pricing power exists, but elasticity shows up with a lag. Growth comes from emerging markets and premiumization, not innovation breakthroughs. Input costs and promotions constantly pressure margins. Portfolio discipline matters more than marketing spend. The bull case is steady global snacking demand with buybacks. The bear case is volume softness once pricing peaks. Mondelēz is a dependable staple—not a rerating story.

Pitch Summary:
Gartner is a global leader in research services, with a long history of delivering valuable insights and data to business and technology leaders. In our view, the company has the best brand in IT research, supported by its scale and a compelling customer value proposition. These advantages have driven a long history of strong organic growth and robust free-cash-flow conversion. The stock price has declined meaningfully from recent highs due to investor concerns surrounding AI-related disruption. We believe these concerns are overstated. In our view, Gartner is well-positioned to reaccelerate organic growth due to continued high customer engagement and the large opportunity to sell to new and existing customers. We took advantage of the opportunity to buy shares in this well-managed company at a bargain price.

BSD Analysis:
Gartner’s moat is embedded advisory workflows inside enterprise decision-making. CIOs don’t buy Gartner for insight—they buy it for validation and cover. Recurring contracts are sticky with low churn. Growth is steady, not explosive, and margins reflect that stability. The risk is enterprise cost cutting that delays renewals, not displacement. AI changes tools, not the need for consensus. The bull case is continued mission-critical relevance. Gartner compounds quietly because careers depend on it.

Pitch Summary:
Alibaba Group was the top detractor during the quarter. The China-headquartered technology conglomerate’s stock price declined as it reported mixed results. The core E-commerce business continues to perform well, and Cloud revenue growth is accelerating. However, the company’s earnings were negatively impacted due to significant spending on subsidies to grow their Quick Commerce business, in our opinion. We believe losses from Quick Commerce will be reduced over time and continue to believe the company is well-positioned for long-term growth, having been one of the early investors in Chinese AI. Over time, we think it can leverage its advanced capabilities and leading market position to unlock further value.

BSD Analysis:
Alibaba remains a cash-generating platform, but equity holders don’t control the rules of the game. Core commerce is mature and increasingly promotional. Cloud was meant to be the growth engine, but scale economics haven’t translated into premium returns. Regulation and policy override strategy at will. Buybacks help math, not sentiment. Optionality exists across logistics and services, but governance risk dominates valuation. The bull case is extreme pessimism already priced in. Alibaba is cheap because uncertainty is structural.

Pitch Summary:
Samsung Electronics was the top contributor during the quarter. The South Korea-headquartered tech company’s stock price rose as earnings staged a sharp recovery due to strength in its core semiconductor business. We recently met with the company in South Korea and were reassured by its confidence in its High Bandwidth Memory product lineup, which has continued to improve under new management. We continue to believe Samsung is one of the world’s leading semiconductor companies with a long runway for future growth.

BSD Analysis:
Samsung’s true earnings engine remains memory, despite the brand’s consumer halo. Scale and manufacturing know-how are real moats—but memory is still a commodity cycle. When pricing turns, profits surge; when it doesn’t, operating leverage cuts brutally. Foundry ambitions diversify risk but trail the leader at high cost. Capex discipline determines whether cycles are survivable or destructive. The bull case is AI-driven memory demand plus better industry coordination. The bear case is overcapacity and margin erosion. Samsung is world-class manufacturing tied to cyclical economics.

Pitch Summary:
Visional is a Japanese human resources technology company helping businesses hire and manage professionals more effectively. It is best known for BizReach, a rapidly growing three-sided platform connecting employers, headhunters and job seekers. BizReach is disrupting the traditional headhunter market by enabling efficient, high-quality direct hiring while benefiting from secular tailwinds stemming from increased job switching. Furthermore, we believe the company boasts an excellent management team that is making sound investments to create long-term shareholder value. Despite strong fundamentals, we believe the market is underestimating the scope of industry tailwinds and BizReach’s leading position, creating an opportunity to invest in a business poised for long-term growth that is trading at a significant discount to our estimate of intrinsic value.

BSD Analysis:
Visional operates at the intersection of logistics, HR, and data platforms in Japan, a market that values incumbency. The moat is domestic embedment and workflow familiarity rather than global scalability. Growth is steady but capped by Japan’s structural demographics. Expansion beyond core verticals risks diluting focus. Margins depend on software mix versus services intensity. The bull case is incremental digitization of conservative industries. The bear case is saturation and slow innovation. Visional is a local compounder with limited export potential.

Pitch Summary:
TeamViewer was the top detractor during the quarter. The Germany-headquartered application software company’s stock price slid after it reported underwhelming results and lowered its full-year annual recurring revenue (ARR) guidance, citing general weakness and integration challenges with its acquirement of 1E, a digital employee experience firm. This shortfall in ARR this year also caused reduced expectations for reported revenue and earnings in 2026. While this news was disappointing, we believe many of these headwinds are likely temporary and that TeamViewer is trading at an extremely attractive valuation.

BSD Analysis:
TeamViewer’s moat is legacy embedment in enterprise IT workflows, not cutting-edge innovation. Once deployed, remote access tools are sticky, but the category itself has commoditized fast. Pricing power is under pressure as alternatives bundle similar functionality at lower cost. Growth depends more on upselling and contract enforcement than new logo wins. The brand is strong, but differentiation is thinning. Execution missteps in go-to-market have already damaged trust. The bull case is stabilization with disciplined cost control. TeamViewer survives as infrastructure software—but greatness is behind it.

Pitch Summary:
Konecranes was the top contributor during the quarter. The Finland-headquartered industrial machinery company’s stock price jumped as it reported earnings that exceeded market expectations. Comparable earnings before interest, tax, and amortization reached record highs driven by margin improvement in all three divisions. Order intake increased meaningfully in the equipment divisions, providing support for future growth. Later in the quarter, Konecranes increased its 2025 financial guidance and is now calling for higher profit vs. the prior year. We continue to believe that Konecranes’ leading position in lifting equipment and related service position is supportive of long-term profitable growth.

BSD Analysis:
Konecranes is exhibiting a classic cyclical-plus-structural recovery, with margin expansion across divisions and improving order intake supporting earnings visibility. The mix shift toward higher-margin services enhances resilience across cycles. Raised guidance reinforces confidence in operational execution. Valuation remains reasonable relative to normalized earnings power and peers in industrial machinery. Continued infrastructure and maintenance demand underpin a multi-year compounding profile.

Pitch Summary:
After a decade-long partnership with Roper Technologies (ROP), we have made a strategic decision to exit our position. Roper has an exceptional track record of compounding capital. However, our decision to sell is a reflection of our commitment to maintaining a portfolio of high conviction, high growth businesses. Our decision to sell was based on three factors. Firstly, Roper’s organic growth rates have begun to lag its pure-play software peers. Roper's diversified model now acts as a drag when compared to specialized software-as-a-service companies that can focus a majority of their R&D on a single, high- growth vertical. Secondly, Roper's "niche market leader" strategy is built on acquiring businesses with high barriers to entry and strong recurring revenue. However, we believe many of these businesses are approaching market saturation, which limits their future growth prospects. Lastly, the valuation no longer provides an attractive margin of safety given the first two challenges. At a forward P/E ratio often exceeding that of the market and closer to higher growth peers, the market is pricing in a level of growth we believe is optimistic given the underlying organic trends.

BSD Analysis:
Roper is a capital allocation machine disguised as an industrial conglomerate. The moat is not technology—it’s discipline in buying niche, mission-critical software and asset-light businesses with pricing power. Organic growth is modest, but margins are protected by switching costs and low customer churn. The portfolio is intentionally boring, which is why it compounds. The risk is overpaying in competitive M&A markets and slowly diluting return quality. Rising rates stress-test the acquisition engine but don’t break the model. Valuation embeds faith in management judgment more than any single business line. Roper works as long as capital discipline stays religious.