Investment Pitches

Pitch Summary:
Alphabet delivered strong results during the fourth quarter. We continue to monitor generative AI disruption risks and the ongoing antitrust cases against the company, and we will follow our discipline as we receive more information. The company sold off along with the majority of the cloud computing ecosystem during the quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains its position in Alphabet despite monitoring potential headwinds from generative AI disruption and ongoing antitrust cases. The company delivered strong fourth-quarter results, demonstrating resilient operational performance across its business segments. The manager acknowledges key risks including potential disruption from generative AI technologies that could impact Google's search dominance, as well as regulatory challenges from antitrust proceedings. However, Vulcan maintains investment discipline and will adjust positioning as more information becomes available. The first-quarter stock decline occurred alongside broader cloud computing ecosystem weakness rather than company-specific issues. Alphabet's dominant position in search, strong presence in cloud computing through Google Cloud, and leadership in AI development through DeepMind and other initiatives position the company to navigate technological transitions. The combination of strong cash generation, diverse revenue streams, and innovation capabilities supports the long-term investment thesis.

Pitch Summary:
Microsoft is the world's largest software company with a broad range of offerings including Microsoft office, gaming, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, and more. Our estimated value for Microsoft grew at a double-digit rate over the past year. The company's operating profits also grew at a double-digit rate. We expect the company's value and its operating profits to continue to compound at double-digit rates. We were pleased to have the opportunity to add to our position at lower prices during the quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan holds and added to Microsoft, the world's largest software company with diversified offerings across Microsoft Office, gaming, Azure cloud computing, and LinkedIn. The manager's estimated intrinsic value for Microsoft grew at double-digit rates over the past year, supported by similar double-digit operating profit growth. This strong fundamental performance validates the investment thesis and provides confidence in continued value creation. Vulcan expects both company value and operating profits to continue compounding at double-digit rates, driven by Microsoft's leadership in productivity software, cloud infrastructure, and emerging technologies like AI. The first-quarter market weakness provided an opportunity to add to the position at more attractive prices. Microsoft's diversified revenue streams, strong competitive moats, and exposure to secular growth trends in cloud computing and artificial intelligence position the company for sustained long-term growth.

Pitch Summary:
Amazon.com is a dominant, world class company with powerful secular tailwinds in place including its e-commerce penetration, digital advertising growth, and the cloud transition. Amazon reported strong results during the fourth quarter. The company sold off along with the majority of the cloud computing ecosystem during the first quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains its position in Amazon, viewing it as a dominant, world-class company benefiting from multiple powerful secular tailwinds. The manager highlights three key growth drivers: continued e-commerce penetration, robust digital advertising growth, and the ongoing cloud transition through AWS. Amazon delivered strong fourth-quarter results, demonstrating operational execution across its diversified business segments. The first-quarter stock decline occurred alongside broader cloud computing ecosystem weakness, presenting a potential buying opportunity rather than reflecting company-specific issues. Amazon's leadership positions in e-commerce, cloud infrastructure, and digital advertising create multiple avenues for long-term growth. The company's scale advantages, customer-centric culture, and continuous innovation across diverse markets position it to capitalize on digital transformation trends. Despite near-term market volatility, the fundamental investment thesis remains intact given Amazon's competitive moats and secular growth opportunities.

Pitch Summary:
Salesforce is the world's leading SaaS vendor for customer relationship management (CRM) and salesforce automation (SFA) software. Growth guidance for the upcoming year was less than anticipated, indicating monetization of Salesforce's Agentforce will take time. However, the company has already closed thousands of Agentforce deals, it expects Agentforce's contribution to revenue to ramp throughout the current year, and contribute more significantly the following fiscal year.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan holds Salesforce, the world's leading SaaS provider for CRM and salesforce automation software. While the company's growth guidance for the upcoming year disappointed expectations, indicating that monetization of its new Agentforce AI product will take time to materialize, early traction signals are encouraging. Salesforce has already closed thousands of Agentforce deals, demonstrating market demand for AI-powered sales automation. Management expects Agentforce revenue contribution to ramp throughout the current year and contribute more significantly in the following fiscal year. This measured rollout approach reflects the complexity of enterprise AI adoption but positions Salesforce to capture significant value from the AI transformation in sales and marketing. The company's dominant market position in CRM provides a strong foundation for cross-selling AI capabilities to its extensive customer base.

Pitch Summary:
PROG Holdings provides lease-to-own financing solutions for non-prime borrowers through a national retailer partner network. In the second half of 2024, one of its largest customers, Big Lots, declared bankruptcy and agreed to be bought by a private equity firm. In December, the sale was cancelled, forcing Big Lots to move forward with liquidation. We believe PROG's stock price decline was far greater than the impact on origination volumes by Big Lots' closure. Further, we expect the company will be able to offset these lost volumes with share gains at existing retailer partnerships and new customer wins.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan holds PROG Holdings, which provides lease-to-own financing solutions for non-prime borrowers through retail partner networks. The company faced a significant challenge when major customer Big Lots declared bankruptcy in late 2024, with an attempted private equity sale ultimately failing and forcing liquidation. This development caused substantial stock price decline, which Vulcan believes was disproportionate to the actual impact on origination volumes from Big Lots' closure. The manager expects PROG to offset lost volumes through market share gains at existing retail partnerships and new customer acquisitions. The lease-to-own model serves an underserved non-prime borrower segment with limited access to traditional credit, providing a valuable service. PROG's diversified retail partner network and ability to expand relationships should enable recovery from the Big Lots impact over time.

Pitch Summary:
Ituran is an Israel-based company that provides stolen vehicle recovery services. Its largest market is Israel, followed by Brazil. They offer a subscription service that allows customers' vehicles to be tracked using RF technology. Customers typically receive a discount on their auto insurance when they subscribe to Ituran's service. Ituran's revenue model produces strong free cash flow and stable margins. The company is performing well, and we believe remains discounted despite the recent increase in share price.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan holds Ituran, an Israel-based provider of stolen vehicle recovery services operating primarily in Israel and Brazil. The company offers subscription-based vehicle tracking services using RF technology, with customers typically receiving auto insurance discounts for subscribing. This creates a compelling value proposition that drives customer adoption and retention. Ituran's subscription revenue model generates strong free cash flow and maintains stable margins, providing predictable financial performance. The manager notes the company is performing well operationally and believes the stock remains discounted despite recent price appreciation. The business benefits from recurring subscription revenue, relatively low customer churn due to insurance benefits, and expansion opportunities in underpenetrated markets. The combination of defensive characteristics and growth potential in vehicle security services makes this an attractive investment.

Pitch Summary:
ISS is a facilities management company based in Denmark specializing in services that are non-core to their customers such as cleaning, food management, building maintenance, security, technical support, and other services. The company is performing well. The company grew its operating profits 24% last year. We expect 2025 to be another strong year with double-digit growth in free cash flow. Over the long term, we expect ISS to be able to grow at a mid-single digit rate. Moreover, the company announced a 3.1 billion DKK shareholder return, which represents approximately 10-11% of the company's market cap at the time of the announcement. This shareholder return consists of a 2.5 billion DKK share repurchase program with the remainder being dividends. ISS has global scale to service multinational accounts and to benefit from the trend of companies outsourcing non-core functions to service providers such as ISS. ISS has historically consistent operating margins and benefits from business contracts which allow it to pass through wages and other cost increases to its customers.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan holds ISS, a Danish facilities management company providing non-core services including cleaning, food management, building maintenance, and security. The company delivered strong performance with 24% operating profit growth last year, and Vulcan expects another strong year in 2025 with double-digit free cash flow growth. Long-term growth expectations are mid-single digits, supported by the secular trend of companies outsourcing non-core functions. ISS announced a significant 3.1 billion DKK shareholder return program (10-11% of market cap), consisting of 2.5 billion DKK in share repurchases plus dividends, demonstrating strong capital allocation. The company's global scale enables servicing of multinational accounts and benefits from outsourcing trends. ISS maintains historically consistent operating margins and enjoys contract structures that allow pass-through of wage and cost increases to customers, providing inflation protection and margin stability.

Pitch Summary:
Jones Lang LaSalle is one of the largest commercial real estate service providers in the world, serving both investors in and corporate occupiers of real estate. It provides leasing brokerage, M&A and investment advisory services, as well as property and project management services. To complement its core business, the company also owns LaSalle, one of the largest global real estate investment management businesses in the world. Jones Lang LaSalle is a secular grower in a consolidating industry, is broadly diversified by geography, asset class and line of service, and has an inherently variable cost structure that has allowed it to generate free cash flow in both good and bad times.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan purchased Jones Lang LaSalle, one of the world's largest commercial real estate service providers serving both investors and corporate occupiers. The company offers comprehensive services including leasing brokerage, M&A advisory, investment advisory, property management, and project management. JLL also owns LaSalle, one of the largest global real estate investment management businesses, providing additional diversification and recurring fee income. The manager views JLL as a secular grower operating in a consolidating industry with broad diversification across geography, asset classes, and service lines. The company's inherently variable cost structure has enabled free cash flow generation in both favorable and challenging market conditions. This operational flexibility, combined with market leadership position and diversified revenue streams, positions JLL to benefit from long-term real estate market growth and industry consolidation trends.

Pitch Summary:
Skyworks is a leader in radio frequency (RF) systems primarily for mobile phones, wireless infrastructure, aerospace and defense, internet of things, and various other applications. Their components are mission critical and support key network technologies, including cellular, WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity. Only a handful of companies are able to design and manufacture high-end RF components, making them important long-term partners to their customers. While results can be cyclical, Skyworks has maintained and grown its market share over time. Recently, Skyworks lost market share to a competitor which negatively affected our value and caused us to reevaluate Skyworks's competitive position. While Skyworks's moat is not as strong as we had originally believed, it remains one of the leading companies in a consolidating industry with high barriers to entry.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan sold Skyworks Solutions, a leader in radio frequency systems for mobile phones, wireless infrastructure, and IoT applications. The company's RF components are mission-critical for cellular, WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity, with only a handful of companies capable of designing and manufacturing high-end RF components. This scarcity historically made Skyworks an important long-term partner to customers despite cyclical results. However, recent market share losses to a competitor negatively impacted Vulcan's valuation and prompted a reassessment of the competitive position. While Skyworks remains a leading company in a consolidating industry with high barriers to entry, the manager concluded the competitive moat was not as strong as originally believed. This competitive deterioration led to the decision to exit the position and reallocate capital to more competitively entrenched businesses.

Pitch Summary:
TPG is an alternative asset manager with a great reputation and proven track record. The alternative asset manager industry benefits from long-term capital, which leads to annuity-like fee streams. In addition, the industry continues to enjoy tailwinds from increasing capital flows into private markets. We have followed TPG since their IPO in 2022 and have been impressed with their execution. We expect TPG to continue to expand their market share in a growing industry, and we expect fundraising, fee revenue, and fee earnings to accelerate. TPG is in a great position to fundraise as the company consistently returns capital to LPs. Many in the industry struggle to return funds, and this differentiates TPG.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan initiated a position in TPG, an alternative asset manager with strong reputation and proven track record since its 2022 IPO. The manager emphasizes the industry's structural advantages, including long-term capital commitments that generate annuity-like fee streams and continued tailwinds from increasing capital flows into private markets. TPG's execution since going public has impressed Vulcan, positioning the firm to expand market share in a growing industry. The manager expects acceleration in fundraising, fee revenue, and fee earnings. TPG's competitive differentiation lies in consistently returning capital to limited partners, while many industry peers struggle with fund distributions. This track record of successful capital returns enhances TPG's fundraising capabilities and strengthens relationships with institutional investors, creating a virtuous cycle for future growth.

Pitch Summary:
Stanley Black & Decker is a manufacturer of tools and industrial fastening products. Brands include DEWALT, Black & Decker, Craftsman, Stanley, Lenox, Cub Cadet, and Troy-Bilt. Its Tools and Storage segment makes up 90% of company revenue which includes power tools, hand tools, and outdoor equipment. The remaining 10% comes from its Engineered Fastening segment, which includes fasteners, rivets & welding equipment for the automotive, aerospace and industrial markets. The company has strong brands, high market share, and global scale. Stanley Black & Decker's earnings have been under pressure for the last several years due to Covid related supply chain issues and difficulty integrating acquisitions. More recently, higher interest rates have depressed housing demand, which in turn has reduced demand for its core tools business. Going forward, we expect the company's cost restructuring plan to underpin strong earnings growth. In addition, the company's renewed focus on investing in organic growth gives us confidence that the company has a long runway to deliver more consistent earnings growth. Recent announcements about tariffs could slow the company's progress but it does not change our fundamental investment case.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan purchased Stanley Black & Decker, a leading tools manufacturer with strong brands including DEWALT, Black & Decker, and Craftsman. The company derives 90% of revenue from Tools and Storage, with the remainder from Engineered Fastening serving automotive and aerospace markets. Despite strong brands, high market share, and global scale, earnings have been pressured by COVID-related supply chain issues, acquisition integration challenges, and reduced housing demand from higher interest rates. The manager expects the company's cost restructuring plan to drive strong earnings growth going forward. Management's renewed focus on organic growth investment provides confidence in delivering more consistent earnings growth over time. While tariff announcements present near-term headwinds, they don't alter the fundamental investment thesis for this cyclical recovery story.

Pitch Summary:
Medpace Holdings is a global clinical contract research organization (CRO) providing outsourced drug development services. Medpace provides a full-service model attractive to small and midsized biotechnology firms that lack the infrastructure needed to navigate the drug development process. This customer base is typically less price sensitive and relies on Medpace to perform end-to-end contract services for drug development. Medpace produces robust free cash flow and has a strong balance sheet. After several years of double-digit earnings growth, we expect the company to have a relatively flat year in 2025. Over the long term, we expect the company to return to double-digit growth. In addition to being outstanding operators, Medpace's management team has a history of intelligent capital allocation decisions. We are pleased to own this wonderful business.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan initiated a position in Medpace, a global clinical CRO serving primarily small and mid-sized biotech clients who lack internal drug development infrastructure. The manager highlights Medpace's full-service model as particularly attractive to price-insensitive customers requiring end-to-end services. The company generates robust free cash flow and maintains a strong balance sheet, providing financial stability. While expecting flat earnings in 2025 after years of double-digit growth, Vulcan anticipates a return to double-digit growth over the long term. Management's track record of intelligent capital allocation decisions reinforces the investment thesis. The CRO industry benefits from increasing outsourcing trends as biotech companies seek specialized expertise and cost efficiency in drug development.

Pitch Summary:
Sodexo is a food services and facilities management company. It is the third largest on-site food services company in the world, behind Compass Group and Aramark, serving corporate offices, schools, hospitals, and other venues. Food Service makes up roughly two thirds of their revenue, and approximately 50% of the total market for food services remains in-sourced. The remaining third of its revenue comes from Facilities Management, which includes outsourced cleaning, security, and building engineering and maintenance. There are many reasons we like Sodexo, including its strong balance sheet, stable revenues in both good economic times and bad, long-term customer contracts, and a solid customer retention rate of approximately 95%. The family of the founder, Pierre Bellon, owns 40% of shares and they have been good long-term owners. Over the last few years, the management team has been enhancing the business, resulting in improved margins, a higher customer retention rate, and stronger new business development. The company also spun out noncore businesses and has simplified its corporate structure.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan initiated a position in Sodexo, the third-largest global food services company, recognizing its defensive business characteristics and operational improvements. The investment thesis centers on the significant outsourcing opportunity, with approximately 50% of the food services market still in-sourced, providing long-term growth potential. Sodexo's diversified revenue base spans food services (two-thirds) and facilities management (one-third), serving corporate, education, healthcare, and government clients through long-term contracts. The business model demonstrates defensive qualities with stable revenues across economic cycles, high customer retention (95%), and predictable cash flows from multi-year contracts. The Bellon family's 40% ownership stake provides aligned long-term stewardship and strategic continuity. Recent operational enhancements have driven margin improvements, higher retention rates, and stronger new business development. Management's focus on core businesses through non-core asset divestitures and corporate structure simplification has improved operational efficiency and strategic focus.

Pitch Summary:
Alphabet delivered strong results during the fourth quarter. We continue to monitor generative AI disruption risks and the ongoing antitrust cases against the company, and we will follow our discipline as we receive more information. The company sold off along with the majority of the cloud computing ecosystem during the quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains a measured bullish stance on Alphabet while actively monitoring key risk factors including AI disruption and antitrust proceedings. The company delivered strong fourth quarter results, demonstrating continued execution in search, advertising, and cloud computing segments. However, the investment thesis faces two significant uncertainties: potential disruption from generative AI technologies that could impact search dominance, and ongoing antitrust cases that may result in business model changes or asset divestitures. The first quarter selloff appears to be part of broader cloud computing sector weakness rather than Alphabet-specific concerns. Vulcan's disciplined approach involves continuous monitoring of these risk factors while maintaining exposure to Alphabet's dominant market positions and cash generation capabilities. The company's diversified revenue streams across search, YouTube, cloud, and other bets provide some defensive characteristics, though the core search business remains the primary value driver and potential vulnerability.

Pitch Summary:
Microsoft is the world's largest software company with a broad range of offerings including Microsoft office, gaming, Azure cloud computing, LinkedIn, and more. Our estimated value for Microsoft grew at a double-digit rate over the past year. The company's operating profits also grew at a double-digit rate. We expect the company's value and its operating profits to continue to compound at double-digit rates. We were pleased to have the opportunity to add to our position at lower prices during the quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan increased their Microsoft position during the quarter's weakness, demonstrating strong conviction in the long-term growth trajectory. The investment thesis is anchored by Microsoft's diversified software portfolio spanning productivity (Office), cloud computing (Azure), professional networking (LinkedIn), and gaming, creating multiple growth drivers and defensive characteristics. The company delivered double-digit operating profit growth while Vulcan's intrinsic value estimates also increased at double-digit rates, indicating both fundamental progress and valuation expansion potential. Management expects continued double-digit compounding in both value and operating profits, supported by secular trends in cloud adoption, AI integration, and digital transformation. The first quarter selloff provided an attractive opportunity to add shares at lower prices, reflecting Vulcan's confidence in Microsoft's competitive positioning and execution capabilities. The combination of market leadership, diversified revenue streams, and consistent double-digit growth makes Microsoft a core long-term holding.

Pitch Summary:
Amazon.com is a dominant, world class company with powerful secular tailwinds in place including its e-commerce penetration, digital advertising growth, and the cloud transition. Amazon reported strong results during the fourth quarter. The company sold off along with the majority of the cloud computing ecosystem during the first quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains a bullish stance on Amazon despite first quarter weakness, viewing the selloff as a temporary market reaction rather than fundamental deterioration. The investment thesis is built on Amazon's dominant market positions across multiple high-growth secular trends including e-commerce penetration, digital advertising expansion, and cloud computing adoption. The company delivered strong fourth quarter results, demonstrating continued execution across its diversified business segments. The first quarter decline appears to be part of broader cloud computing sector weakness rather than Amazon-specific issues. Amazon's competitive moats in e-commerce (logistics network, Prime ecosystem), cloud computing (AWS market leadership), and digital advertising (customer data, targeting capabilities) remain intact. The combination of multiple growth drivers, market leadership positions, and temporary valuation compression creates an attractive opportunity for long-term investors in this dominant technology platform.

Pitch Summary:
Salesforce is the world's leading SaaS vendor for customer relationship management (CRM) and salesforce automation (SFA) software. Growth guidance for the upcoming year was less than anticipated, indicating monetization of Salesforce's Agentforce will take time. However, the company has already closed thousands of Agentforce deals, it expects Agentforce's contribution to revenue to ramp throughout the current year, and contribute more significantly the following fiscal year.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains conviction in Salesforce despite near-term growth guidance disappointment, viewing the company as the dominant leader in CRM and SFA software markets. The investment thesis centers on Salesforce's market-leading position and the long-term potential of Agentforce, their AI-powered automation platform. While monetization of Agentforce is taking longer than initially expected, early traction with thousands of deals closed demonstrates customer interest and adoption potential. The company's guidance suggests a gradual revenue ramp throughout the current year with more significant contributions in the following fiscal year. Salesforce's entrenched customer relationships, switching costs, and continuous innovation in AI-powered solutions support the long-term growth trajectory. The temporary growth deceleration appears to be an execution timing issue rather than a fundamental competitive threat, creating an opportunity for patient investors in the leading CRM platform.

Pitch Summary:
PROG Holdings provides lease-to-own financing solutions for non-prime borrowers through a national retailer partner network. In the second half of 2024, one of its largest customers, Big Lots, declared bankruptcy and agreed to be bought by a private equity firm. In December, the sale was cancelled, forcing Big Lots to move forward with liquidation. We believe PROG's stock price decline was far greater than the impact on origination volumes by Big Lots' closure. Further, we expect the company will be able to offset these lost volumes with share gains at existing retailer partnerships and new customer wins.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan views PROG Holdings as oversold following the Big Lots bankruptcy and liquidation, creating an attractive entry opportunity. The company provides lease-to-own financing for non-prime borrowers through retail partnerships, serving an underbanked consumer segment with limited credit alternatives. While Big Lots represented a significant customer relationship, Vulcan believes the market overreacted to the volume loss impact. The investment thesis relies on PROG's ability to replace lost origination volumes through market share gains at existing retail partners and new customer acquisition. The lease-to-own model serves a stable demand base of consumers who lack traditional credit access, providing defensive characteristics during economic uncertainty. PROG's diversified retailer network and established operational infrastructure position the company to recover from the Big Lots impact while potentially emerging stronger with improved partner relationships and market positioning.

Pitch Summary:
Ituran is an Israel-based company that provides stolen vehicle recovery services. Its largest market is Israel, followed by Brazil. They offer a subscription service that allows customers' vehicles to be tracked using RF technology. Customers typically receive a discount on their auto insurance when they subscribe to Ituran's service. Ituran's revenue model produces strong free cash flow and stable margins. The company is performing well, and we believe remains discounted despite the recent increase in share price.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains a positive view on Ituran, an Israeli company specializing in stolen vehicle recovery services through RF tracking technology. The business model centers on subscription-based vehicle tracking services primarily in Israel and Brazil, with customers incentivized by auto insurance discounts. This creates a recurring revenue stream with strong free cash flow generation and stable operating margins. The value proposition is compelling for both consumers (insurance savings) and insurance companies (reduced theft claims), creating a sustainable competitive position. Despite recent share price appreciation, Vulcan believes the stock remains undervalued relative to its intrinsic worth. The company's strong operational performance and cash generation capabilities in a niche market with limited competition support the continued investment thesis. The subscription model provides revenue predictability and customer retention advantages in the vehicle security market.

Pitch Summary:
ISS is a facilities management company based in Denmark specializing in services that are non-core to their customers such as cleaning, food management, building maintenance, security, technical support, and other services. The company is performing well. The company grew its operating profits 24% last year. We expect 2025 to be another strong year with double-digit growth in free cash flow. Over the long term, we expect ISS to be able to grow at a mid-single digit rate. Moreover, the company announced a 3.1 billion DKK shareholder return, which represents approximately 10-11% of the company's market cap at the time of the announcement. This shareholder return consists of a 2.5 billion DKK share repurchase program with the remainder being dividends. ISS has global scale to service multinational accounts and to benefit from the trend of companies outsourcing non-core functions to service providers such as ISS. ISS has historically consistent operating margins and benefits from business contracts which allow it to pass through wages and other cost increases to its customers.

BSD Analysis:
Vulcan maintains a bullish stance on ISS, a Danish facilities management company benefiting from strong operational performance and attractive capital allocation. The company delivered impressive 24% operating profit growth and is positioned for continued double-digit free cash flow growth in 2025. ISS operates in a defensive business model providing non-core services like cleaning, food management, and security to corporate clients. The secular outsourcing trend supports long-term mid-single digit growth as companies focus on core competencies. The substantial 3.1 billion DKK shareholder return program (10-11% of market cap) demonstrates management's commitment to returning excess capital. ISS benefits from global scale advantages in serving multinational accounts, consistent operating margins, and contract structures that allow cost pass-through to customers. This combination of defensive characteristics, growth potential, and shareholder-friendly capital allocation creates an attractive risk-adjusted investment opportunity.