Investment Pitches

Pitch Summary:
AST SpaceMobile is developing a space-based cellular broadband network using a constellation of satellites that communicate directly with unmodified smartphones. The market opportunity spans military, first responders, remote areas, and underserved regions. AST has partnerships with AT&T, Verizon, Google, Samsung, Vodafone, and others reaching over 3 billion people. They have 5 satellites in orbit and plan 60 more by Q1 2026. Management projects breakeven by end of 2025 with 25 satellites. Competitive advantages include larger satellites enabling broadband, not just text like Starlink’s early offering. Defense and first responder use cases offer premium monetization. The company has ~$1.5B cash. AST offers high expected value despite execution and regulatory risk.

BSD Analysis:
ASTS represents a high-risk, high-reward infrastructure build with enormous optionality if direct-to-device connectivity achieves modest adoption. Partnerships with global carriers derisk distribution and monetization. Satellite size and bandwidth provide clear technical differentiation. Cash runway supports near-term deployment. Execution risks include launch cadence, regulatory approvals, and capex efficiency, but asymmetric upside exists.

Pitch Summary:
PAR primarily adds new customers through RFP processes, the duration and outcome of which are uncertain. A rollout slowdown at Burger King occurred because they are adopting an additional module, which is a positive signal. Burger King has several cross-sale opportunities. CEO Savneet Singh highlighted the strongest weighted pipeline ever. McDonald’s was referenced publicly as a pipeline opportunity. PAR is inflecting to profitability, and over the next 3 years it should be nearly double in size with far greater profitability.

BSD Analysis:
PAR Has Meaningful Multi-Year Growth Visibility Driven By Large Enterprise Rollouts And Cross-Sell Potential Across Major QSR Chains. Product Breadth, Including Table Service POS And Convenience-Store Modules, Expands TAM. Operating Leverage Is Improving As Recurring Software Mix Rises. Execution Risk Around RFP Timing Remains, But The Pipeline Strength And Improving Profitability Underpin A Compelling Medium-Term Thesis.

Pitch Summary:
KKR shares were down more than 8% in the first half of the year. Investor pessimism stemmed from tariff concerns and slower fundraising among endowments. However, endowments are less than 5% of KKR’s AUM. The long-term growth engines for KKR are continued share gains, product expansion, and widening distribution, including rapid growth in the high-net-worth channel. KKR has grown AUM by 18% per year and management fees by 25% per year over the last 15 years. The company has a clear path to continued compounding.

BSD Analysis:
KKR benefits from secular tailwinds in private markets, with fundraising breadth and distribution expansion enabling continued fee growth even when institutional flows soften. High-net-worth channels materially expand TAM, and partnerships like Capital Group extend advisor reach. Strong historical AUM and fee-compounding demonstrate durable competitive advantages. Short-term fundraising concerns do not impair long-term earnings power. Tariff or endowment-related fears appear overstated.

Pitch Summary:
Cellebrite has been our worst performing holding YTD. Investors are concerned that uncertainty around US federal budgets will lead to delayed purchases. Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of $408M was up 23% year-over-year. There is management turnover, with a new CFO hired who previously sold his last company. Cellebrite’s SPAC sponsor has 1.5M shares vesting if the stock exceeds $30 by August 2026. The new CFO’s experience selling a public company suggests a sale process may be likely. My expected value = $30 and timing = 2026.

BSD Analysis:
Cellebrite continues to produce strong ARR growth, indicating durable product demand despite budget timing noise. The managerial reshuffle appears strategically aligned with a potential sale, increasing the likelihood of a corporate transaction at a premium. High-margin software economics and mission-critical law enforcement workflows support valuation. SPAC-related incentives create additional pressure to maximize share price within a defined window. Regulatory/budget dependencies remain risks but upside skew is notable.

Pitch Summary:
LifeCore is a contract drug manufacturer which has recently added significant manufacturing capacity. They are operating at approximately 20% of their capacity with 15% EBITDA margins. Trump has repeated a desire to impose a 200% tariff on drugs made outside of the US. While our investment thesis is not based on the imposition of additional tariffs, if imposed, it would be a gift to the business development team at LifeCore, which has a ton of capacity to sell. At the company’s investor day in 2024, LifeCore management provided medium and long-term guidance indicating they could nearly quadruple EBITDA with no additional capital. Management may have been conservative given potentially higher pricing, and tariff-driven reshoring could magnify demand. The multiyear path to a multibagger remains intact.

BSD Analysis:
LifeCore has significant unutilized capacity, which drives enormous operating leverage once drug fills accelerate. Tariff-driven reshoring would amplify already-strong secular demand for U.S.-based sterile manufacturing. EBITDA expansion potential is substantial given low current utilization, with fixed-cost absorption driving margin uplift. Execution risk remains around customer onboarding, FDA approvals, and pricing assumptions, but risk/reward is attractive.

Pitch Summary:
Burford ended the quarter with a market capitalization of approximately $2.5B while having the rights to multiple $1B+ potential judgements including Sundance Resources, Sysco food price fixing claims, and most importantly the YPF Argentina case. The aggrieved YPF shareholders (and Burford through their litigation funding) have a judgement against Argentina totaling more than $16B of which Burford would be entitled to more than $6B. On June 30th, a Federal Judge gave Argentina 2 weeks to place shares representing its 51% stake in YPF into an account at BNY Mellon in the U.S. as a partial settlement of the $16B judgement. Burford’s portion would be worth approximately $2.5B (the entire quarter ending market cap). Argentina has appealed this decision, as they are appealing the larger ruling. The YPF settlement accrues interest for Burford at over $300M per year. It is my expectation that the YPF case gets settled in 2026 for more than 50 cents on the dollar. The combination of current business + YPF proceeds + additional progress in other cases gets us somewhere between a double and triple of the share price.

BSD Analysis:
Burford’s exposure to YPF creates a uniquely asymmetric investment setup, with claim value exceeding the market cap even at discounted probabilities. Accrued interest materially increases intrinsic value over time. Core operations continue to scale, offering a recurring engine of litigation-funding returns independent of YPF. Risks include sovereign enforcement timelines and appeals, but even partial recovery materially re-rates the business. Litigation finance cyclicality is low, providing ballast while major cases mature.

Pitch Summary:
One example of what I believe is a high expected value with uncertain timing investment is Sable Offshore (SOC), which I first wrote about in the Q3 2024 letter. I think there is a > 90% chance of a +150% outcome in the next year which implies an expected value of +135% (assuming a complete loss in the 10% scenario which I think is extremely conservative). Sable is reopening an old oilfield in federal waters off the coast of California that had been operated by Exxon for decades but was shut down after oil leaked from a pipeline on land. We know the oil is in the ground. Environmentalists have used the court system to delay the reopening of the pipeline. When the pipeline opens, I believe the stock should re-rate over time as the company reports production and revenue. I think the environmentalists are running out of Hail Mary’s and litigation should be resolved before the end of the year, but the timing is clearly uncertain. It could be August, or it could be 2026.

BSD Analysis:
SOC is a high-expected-value, binary-timing asset tethered to the resolution of litigation blocking pipeline reopening. The resource is proven, capex needs are modest, and operational leverage is extremely high once production resumes. Comparable offshore restart plays have historically re-rated rapidly once regulatory hurdles clear. Legal delays create volatility, but they do not change asset economics, and optionality is significant relative to the micro-cap valuation. Regulatory timing remains the key risk, but risk/reward is asymmetrically favorable.

Pitch Summary:
A holding in financial services firm Robinhood Markets – which was added to the benchmark index on the last day of Q2 – also meaningfully contributed. The company's shares advanced 121% for the three months. Robinhood has been excelling on all fronts recently, with strong customer growth, rising balance sizes and the successful launch of new products, particularly in the cryptocurrency space. The platform's value proposition is gaining traction, especially among young investors, and is scaling at an impressive rate. We reduced the position to take some profits, but the stock was the fund's No. 7 overweight at quarter end.

BSD Analysis:
Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) Robinhood is the unapologetic digital predator of financial services, having successfully leveraged the meme-stock frenzy to build a powerful user acquisition engine that is now achieving sustained, explosive profitability. The investment thesis centers on the structural pivot from a cyclical brokerage to a diversified, high-margin financial ecosystem, evidenced by 11 business lines now generating $100M+ in annualized revenue, including the acquisition of Bitstamp. The accelerated adoption of Robinhood Gold is the critical monetization key, turning low-value users into high-margin subscription and net interest income streams. Furthermore, the rapid growth in Prediction Markets is a calculated, high-velocity play to capture the massive wallet share of the internet generation.

Pitch Summary:
Among individual stocks, a sizable overweight in capital goods firm Axon (+57%) was the top contributor. The company develops products and technology for the law enforcement industry. It is a high-quality firm with deep competitive moats, including what is essentially a monopoly in the taser business. More recently, Axon has expanded into AI-driven products that enhance police productivity, such as automated report writing and language translators, and these new products have seen strong adoption to date. Axon was our top holding and largest overweight on June 30.

BSD Analysis:
Axon is a public safety vertical monopoly, transitioning from a hardware vendor (TASER) to a high-margin, recurring software subscription model built around its body-cam evidence and digital records platform. The investment is driven by the Services segment flywheel, where hardware is merely a subsidized gateway to lock in municipal agencies for long-term, high-margin software contracts. Axon's structural moat is built on high switching costs, regulatory mandates for digital evidence, and an expanding suite of AI-powered features. This market dominance allows Axon to generate superior Free Cash Flow and execute a long-term compounder story that is protected by government spending stability.

Pitch Summary:
Pepsi was a detractor for the quarter with concerns about tariff impacts to its global beverage and snack businesses. However, Pepsi continues to be an example of a resilient company, enjoying dominant market share and pricing power. U-Haul traded down in large part due to macro sentiment related to its self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) competitors. The truck rental business is undergoing an anticipated refresh cycle that dates back to supply chain constraints during the COVID-19 pandemic. Management continues to invest in the company with a long-term view that aligns well with our investment philosophy. Another detractor for the quarter was Kenvue, the spin-off of the Johnson & Johnson health division that occurred in 2023. Kenvue has a stable portfolio of well-known consumer brands that we believe will weather this difficult economic environment. The company’s discount to consumer peers has attracted recent activist pressure to drive shareholder value going forward.

BSD Analysis:
Pepsi is a consumer-staples assassin — dominating salty snacks globally while using beverages as a margin lever. Frito-Lay remains one of the strongest brand portfolios in modern CPG, with pricing power and distribution reach Coca-Cola can only envy on the snacks side. Pepsi’s innovation cadence and global distribution scale give it resilience regardless of macro conditions. The stock trades like a sleepy staple, but Pepsi’s execution puts it in the top tier of global brand operators.

Pitch Summary:
Contributors and Detractors Samsung has continued to be a strong contributor this year after being a significant detractor in 2024. It remains one of the most prominent global technology companies, and with its market position in memory chips, foundry, and phones, there are multiple paths to unlock value. South Korea has a new administration in office this year that is focused on closing the “Korean discount” that has existed for decades. The government has passed a broad set of regulatory changes to the Korean Commercial Code and additional legislation is anticipated. South Korea announced its Value-Up program last year, but participation for Korean companies was purely voluntary and adoption was limited. The new regulations require companies to significantly improve governance practices in South Korea, and the equity market should respond accordingly. Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) elected not to reclassify South Korea from Emerging Market to Developed Market earlier this summer, but the new administration has established a taskforce specifically charged with meeting the requirements to be classified as a Developed Market by MSCI. KT&G was also a beneficiary of this regulatory reform, and the company also has aggressively bought back shares. Microsoft® performed well this quarter with strong performance in its cloud business.

BSD Analysis:
Samsung Electronics is a memory-cycle wrecking ball with massive upside as DRAM, NAND, and HBM pricing tighten. AI demand is pushing memory into a supercycle, and Samsung’s vertical integration in foundry, memory, displays, and components gives it unmatched optionality. The preferred shares give you all that leverage at a discount. Samsung’s balance sheet is pristine, capex is aggressive, and its HBM roadmap is improving fast. This is a global tech titan priced like a cyclical commodity name — and that mismatch is the opportunity.

Pitch Summary:
Alibaba was down 12.8%. Bear in mind, this comes off a stunning 55.3% March quarter return. Alibaba reported full year results, and by all accounts they were pretty good. Market chatter suggests some were disappointed by the Cloud revenue, but with 18% growth over the last year, we are not complaining. We liked the continuation of share buybacks, noting that for the year ended 31 March 2025, it bought back over 5% of its shares. Our Alibaba holding accounts for 3.3% of the Fund. We wrote last quarter that we were closely monitoring the position (hinting toward selling). We chose not to act, largely because we see it as one of the cheaper and most direct ways for the Fund to benefit from AI initiatives and Cloud infrastructure growth, and at the same time it provides geographic and economic diversity.

BSD Analysis:
Alibaba is still the backbone of Chinese e-commerce, cloud, and logistics — and the market is pricing it like a dying retailer. Regulatory overhang has eased, the company is cutting fat, and cloud margins are improving as AI workloads ramp. The breakup unwind and low valuation give Alibaba massive rerating potential if sentiment shifts even slightly. Free cash flow is enormous, the core commerce franchise is still dominant, and the balance sheet is pristine. Alibaba is a misunderstood giant trading at distressed-asset multiples.

Pitch Summary:
LyondellBasell (down 15.7%) continues to struggle in the tough plastics market. In March management announced the shutdown of its Propylene Oxide Styrene and Monomer operations at Maasvlakte (the Netherlands), incurring a USD 117m cost to rid itself of a loss making operation. Similarly, in the June quarter it announced the “sale” of four European assets. It is not really a sale. It involves contributing funds to the assets in return for an earnout, and getting rid of liabilities associated with them. By doing so, LyondellBasell is absolving itself of future capital spending requirements (which are somewhat unknowable), resulting in better cash conversion and higher margins (by around 3% at the EBITDA level). We like it! Some assets are better held in private entities. And it is a preferable option to the alternative - shutting them down. Although the net impact of these deals is undoubtedly positive to earnings and cash flow, we remain conservative and have not factored this into our valuation. Amongst the tariff turmoil, LyondellBasell was heavily sold off. It looked too cheap to us, (trading at a 20% discount to our valuation) and we bought more to end the quarter with a 4.5% position.

BSD Analysis:
LyondellBasell is the global chemicals heavyweight investors love to ignore until margins spike — and with capacity rationalizing and global demand stabilizing, the setup is improving fast. Its scale and integration give it cost advantages in polyethylene and propylene chains, and upside from circular polymers and recycling technology is still underappreciated. The dividend is fat, cash conversion is excellent, and the balance sheet supports both buybacks and growth projects. This is a value-cyclical with surprisingly strong defensive attributes.

Pitch Summary:
Robert Half, the recruitment and out placement specialist, was a small position at the start of the quarter. Despite us buying a little more, after falling 23.8% it is an even smaller position now (2.1%). There’s not much we can elaborate on from last quarter’s report. All we can do is point to what appears to be a dichotomy. Whereas the general price levels of equities does not seem to imply too much of a deterioration in economic conditions, Robert Half's share price seems to imply a prolonged downturn. Our valuation, which we think is conservative, is based on a level of maintainable earnings not much higher than its average over an extended period of 10 years. And it trades at a 27% discount to it. Despite that, we fully recognise we may be missing something, and we anxiously await an imminent update as we write this.

BSD Analysis:
Robert Half gets hammered every cycle, yet it remains the premium staffing and consulting operator with a brand Fortune 500 companies trust. Permanent placement is weak — but Protiviti is thriving, and temporary staffing tends to rebound sharply when hiring cycles restart. The balance sheet is pristine, cash flow is strong, and Robert Half always emerges from downturns with more share. This isn’t a broken story — just a cyclically depressed one with torque on the other side.

Pitch Summary:
We have discussed in prior reports that Liberty Broadband (up 15.1%) trades at a discount to its implied price under the agreed deal with Charter Communications (up 10.9%). We didn't expect this to be corrected so soon. The catalyst was the Liberty deal being brought forward as a result of a different Charter deal - its proposed USD34.5 bn merger with Cox Communications. Charter’s Cox acquisition makes perfect sense. Cox is a major player in cable infrastructure - with over 40,000 miles of fiber across 24 states. Acquiring Cox at a multiple of a little over six times expected 2025 EBITDA, the acquisition is immediately accretive to Charter’s earnings. And in this case, the synergies are apparent - even to blind Freddy. It increases passings to 69.5 million (up 21.5%) and customers to 37.6 million (up 19.7%). Irrespective of the Cox deal proceeding, this sped up the Liberty consolidation. And so the discount referred to above narrowed from 8.9% to 1.4%. Meanwhile, back on Liberty turf, remember that its Alaskan operations (GCI) are not part of the Charter consolidation. Liberty’s management provided some indication as to how it sees GCI on a standalone basis. And its Chairman, John Malone, proffered his thoughts that it should trade at a premium to Charter’s earnings multiple, and to expect active management to pursue small bolt-on acquisitions in special situations (possibly distressed sales) focused on and around the communications industry. We are monitoring closely. Liberty represents 5.1% of the Fund.

BSD Analysis:
Liberty Broadband is basically Charter stock on leverage — but the market still isn’t pricing in Charter’s long-term durability. Broadband remains an essential utility with enormous margins, and DOCSIS 4.0 upgrades will extend cable’s competitive relevance far longer than skeptics believe. Liberty’s structure amplifies Charter’s per-share growth thanks to aggressive buybacks. The discount to NAV is real alpha. This is one of the cleanest long-term value dislocations in telecom.

Pitch Summary:
Thor (up 18.1%), the recreational vehicle producer, released third quarter results which highlighted strong margins and cash flow, and management reassuringly maintained guidance. It also announced reauthorization of its share buyback, and that it had recently bought in the order of USD 25m. Thor operates in a cyclical industry which has been at the bottom of the cycle for a prolonged period. Our valuation is largely predicated on “mid-cycle” maintainable owner’s earnings. Thor trades at 10.9 times that level and offers a 9.1% free cash flow yield. We do not see it as expensive.

BSD Analysis:
Thor is the global RV king, and while the RV market is in a downturn, the company’s cost resets and inventory normalization put it in prime position for the next upcycle. Consumers are still committed to outdoor recreation, and pent-up demand will release once rates ease. Thor’s scale, dealer network, and brand portfolio give it margin leverage no smaller OEM can match. Cycles matter here — but Thor’s setup entering the recovery is far cleaner than the market is pricing. This is classic high-beta cyclicality with strong fundamentals underneath.

Pitch Summary:
Both our auto dealerships performed well. Autonation was up 22.7% and Group 1 Automotive was up 14.5%. Just like nature abhors a vacuum, markets commentators like to attribute cause to price movements. We can’t oblige in this case. All that has happened from our perspective is that these businesses continued their accession from cheap investments to those that are more fairly priced (to reach a level which is still far from expensive). Together, they account for 7.6% of the Fund.

BSD Analysis:
Group 1 is one of the most operationally disciplined dealership groups in the U.S., with a heavy tilt toward parts, service, and F&I — the profit engines that keep earnings steady even in choppy auto markets. Its international operations add diversification most peers lack, and management executes with relentless margin focus. Consolidation continues to favor scaled operators like GPI, and the balance sheet gives it room for more M&A. The stock trades cheaply because investors fear the auto cycle, but GPI’s business mix blunts that risk. This is a quietly excellent operator trading at a deep discount.

Pitch Summary:
Both our auto dealerships performed well. Autonation was up 22.7% and Group 1 Automotive was up 14.5%. Just like nature abhors a vacuum, markets commentators like to attribute cause to price movements. We can’t oblige in this case. All that has happened from our perspective is that these businesses continued their accession from cheap investments to those that are more fairly priced (to reach a level which is still far from expensive). Together, they account for 7.6% of the Fund.

BSD Analysis:
AutoNation has turned from a dealership network into a high-margin used-car, F&I, and service powerhouse, with less dependence on volatile new-vehicle volumes. Inventory discipline is tight, margins are strong, and AutoNation’s data-driven pricing keeps it ahead of weaker competitors. The company continues to buy back stock aggressively, shrinking the float while generating strong free cash flow. As the auto market normalizes, AN stands ready to snap up share from smaller, less sophisticated dealers. This isn’t your grandfather’s dealership operator — it’s a capital-allocation machine.

Pitch Summary:
Last quarter we noted Linamar, the industrial manufacturer, was particularly hard hit by the tariffs. That conclusion, logical at the time, now appears incorrect after Trump’s Executive Order of April 29. So the price more than rebounded - it was up 30.6%. And not only is it now expected that there be no direct tariff impact, because Linamar’s products are United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) compliant (and the US is still respecting this), it is now seeing opportunities to become a North American supplier for customers that are currently buying from Asia and Europe (thereby enabling those customers to avoid a 25% tariff). Whilst all this is surely a positive, it doesn’t address the broader issue, which is the slump in auto production. Whilst first quarter results were impressive (with strong market share growth) it is far from being immune. We are cautious, but Linamar is not expensive, trading at a free cash flow yield of 16.2%. It represents 3.6% of the Fund.

BSD Analysis:
Linamar continues to outperform its auto-supplier peers by not acting like one — the company’s industrial and access-equipment divisions give it stability the market underprices. With major wins in EV platforms and North American reshoring tailwinds, Linamar has real growth drivers beyond traditional ICE components. The balance sheet is strong, capital allocation is disciplined, and margins keep creeping higher. Linamar is consistently better run than its valuation implies. The market is late catching on.

Pitch Summary:
The big news came from the management team of one of the Fund’s largest investments. Dick’s Sporting, (down 1.2%) announced its USD 2.5b acquisition of Foot Locker, the mammoth sports footwear retailer with 3,266 stores globally. The claimed rationale was as usual; earnings accretion (but does this come with extra risk); and cost synergies (in the medium term). Ordinarily we would be extremely skeptical, but with Dick’s management team having been conservative and consistently delivering above expectations over the last 7 years, we are only mildly skeptical. Foot Locker has appeared on our radar in the past. Its share price had fallen from the low to mid $20’s late last year to $12.87 at the time of Dick’s $24.00 offer (which was cash with option of scrip). Given this perspective, the “premium” paid is perhaps not so high as it appears. And in any case, of far more relevance, the acquisition multiple is a reasonable 6.1 times adjusted 2024 EBITDA. On the same day, Dick’s announced preliminary first quarter results which were inline with our expectations. Not unexpectedly, the market was more than mildly skeptical about the merger and Dick’s was down 14.6%. Intuition was telling us that, whilst the direction of market movement was appropriate, the extent of it was a little too drastic. We bought more. Not long later Dick’s reported official first quarter results and re-affirmed its guidance. We made some minor tweaks to our numbers. On our analysis this business is generating returns on total capital in the high 30% range, and trades at an owner’s earnings yield of 6.5%. We are happy to maintain our 6.8% position.

BSD Analysis:
Dick’s is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of U.S. sporting goods retail. Its private brands (CALIA, DSG, VRST) are margin machines, and no competitor can match its combination of scale, assortment, and omnichannel execution. Store remodels and experiential layout upgrades keep customers loyal, and the Pro customer base is becoming a legitimate profit engine. The market treats Dick’s like a cyclical retailer, but its loyalty, private label, and category dominance say otherwise. This is a premium business in a sector full of mediocre operators.