Investment Pitches

Pitch Summary:
Platinum’s core semiconductor holdings – SK hynix, Samsung Electronics and TSMC – were all up strongly. Asian markets continued their good performance with Artificial Intelligence (AI) businesses strongly in demand, and the tech-heavy markets of South Korea and Taiwan led the region. TSMC benefited from extremely strong demand and industry-leading manufacturing capabilities. The company is expanding in Taiwan and making large manufacturing investments in the U.S. and other international markets. Financial performance continues to exceed our expectations and we believe the business has a long runway for future growth.

BSD Analysis:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the single most important manufacturer in the global technology ecosystem. Every serious AI, high-performance computing, and advanced mobile roadmap ultimately runs through TSMC’s fabs. Customers design chips around TSMC’s process nodes because no competitor can match its yield, scale, or execution consistency. The capital intensity is enormous, but it reinforces the moat rather than weakening it. Geopolitical risk dominates headlines, yet it also guarantees strategic backing from customers and governments alike. Margins move with cycles, but technological leadership does not. Investors debate valuation while dependency quietly deepens. This is monopoly-like manufacturing with political noise layered on top. The digital economy quite literally runs through TSMC.

Pitch Summary:
Taiwan’s TSMC is the leading manufacturer of semiconductor chips used in AI, mobile phone and other applications. It benefits from extremely strong demand and has industry-leading manufacturing capabilities. It is expanding in Taiwan and making large manufacturing investments in the U.S. and other international markets. Financial performance continues to exceed our expectations and we believe the business has a long runway for future growth.

BSD Analysis:
TSMC is the most critical manufacturer in the global technology stack. Advanced chips for AI, high-performance computing, and mobile all depend on its fabs. Customers design roadmaps around TSMC’s nodes, not competitors’. Capex is enormous, but no rival matches yield, scale, or trust. Geopolitics dominate headlines while guaranteeing strategic backing. Margins cycle, dominance does not. Investors debate valuation endlessly. The digital world runs through TSMC.

Pitch Summary:
We would call Uber a ‘battleground’ company. It’s clearly the leader in ridesharing and meal delivery in the U.S. and many international markets. Autonomous vehicles continue to gain traction, with Waymo (Alphabet), Telsa and Zoox (Amazon.com) at the forefront and many other companies developing autonomous vehicle strategies. Uber is working with many of these companies and is well placed to maintain its central network role in a hybrid world of human-driven and autonomous vehicles. That said, we recognise the inherent uncertainties and view Uber as a higher-risk, higher-return investment opportunity. Accordingly, Uber is a smaller position in the Fund and is not a top 10 holding.

BSD Analysis:
Uber crossed the line from speculative disruptor to real cash-flow platform. Mobility demand remains resilient even as consumers adjust spending. Delivery profitability surprised skeptics as scale kicked in. Data, pricing, and regulatory leverage favor incumbents as the market matures. Investors still anchor to burn-era narratives. Operating leverage is now visible across segments. Autonomous tech is upside, not existential risk. This is platform dominance settling in.

Pitch Summary:
Jacobs Solutions is a global leader in engineering services. Whilst the company continues to perform in line with our expectations, during the quarter a competitor held an investor event and suggested AI would disrupt the engineering services industry. As discussed on page 36 we are in an environment where every industry and company is dubbed either an ‘AI Winner’ or ‘AI Loser’. We believe this is a shallow distinction. Almost every industry will need to incorporate and adapt AI. We think Jacobs Solutions will be a net beneficiary of the AI revolution. Management is actively investing in AI to deliver efficiencies and the company also benefits from providing engineering services to meet the massive growth in AI-centric infrastructure.

BSD Analysis:
Jacobs is an engineering and consulting firm tied to government, infrastructure, and complex program execution. Revenue visibility is strong because clients fund necessity, not discretion. Margins aren’t flashy, but contract durability is the real asset. Investors treat Jacobs like a generic cyclical consultant. That misses exposure to water, transportation, defense, and environmental remediation. Technical expertise and scale create real barriers. Cash flow supports reinvestment without leverage stress. This is national-priority work paid steadily.

Pitch Summary:
Lastly, Netflix (NFLX) declined in the fourth quarter. Netflix reported solid third quarter operating results and guidance, but the stock traded lower on an unexpected Brazilian tax ruling that negatively impacted operating income. The stock took another leg down in early December after management disclosed that it was making an $83 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s studio and streaming assets. While the price is high, we believe that Netflix is well positioned to monetize Warner Bros.’ licensed content and streaming assets and will use the acquired assets to partially reduce its $20 billion annual spend on content creation.

BSD Analysis:
Netflix is no longer a growth experiment; it’s global entertainment infrastructure with real operating leverage. Scale lets it amortize content costs better than any competitor. The ad tier adds a second monetization engine without cannibalizing subscriptions. Password-sharing enforcement proved demand elasticity was underestimated. International markets quietly drive most incremental growth. Investors fixate on content spend and miss free cash flow inflection. Competition fragments libraries but consolidates distribution power. This is media dominance finally behaving like a business.

Pitch Summary:
Lastly, Applied Materials (AMAT), gained in the fourth quarter. The company reported solid operating results that showed resilient demand along with broad-based growth across all segments and financial metrics. We believe strong demand for AI semiconductor chipsets, coupled with secular technological transitions and federal stimulus from the CHIPS Act, should continue to provide a favorable backdrop for the company.

BSD Analysis:
Applied sits upstream of every serious semiconductor roadmap, monetizing complexity rather than consumer demand. As nodes shrink and packaging advances, process steps multiply, increasing tool intensity per wafer. Capex cycles delay orders but don’t cancel physics. Customers rely on Applied across deposition and materials engineering, creating sticky relationships. Margins reflect scale and IP breadth, not volume chasing. Investors trade timing instead of inevitability. AI and advanced packaging extend demand beyond logic nodes. When fabs spend, Applied prints.

Pitch Summary:
Alphabet (GOOGL) was our largest contributor. The company reported solid operating results driven by broad-based, double-digit growth across all segments. In November, Alphabet released Gemini 3, with performance and AI features that far exceeded expectations, making it the top-performing AI model. Shortly after, Alphabet unveiled its newest generation of Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), or application-specific processors that can perform AI computations at much lower costs, with hyper-scalers such as Meta already looking at utilizing Alphabet’s new AI platform.

BSD Analysis:
Alphabet remains the most powerful attention-monetization machine ever built, despite constant disruption narratives. Search continues to print cash because intent, not interfaces, is what advertisers actually pay for. YouTube has evolved into a multi-engine business spanning ads, subscriptions, and creators. AI spend looks heavy, but Alphabet owns the data, distribution, and compute to earn a return on it. Cloud margins are quietly improving, adding a second profit pillar. Regulatory pressure is constant yet barely dents usage. Investors underestimate adaptation speed. This is dominance with optionality, priced like it’s fragile.

Pitch Summary:
During the quarter, we purchased Aris Mining (Canada), a gold miner with operations in Colombia. The company has significant growth potential from expansion plans for its mines in Colombia. Overall gold production is expected to double over the next two years. High free cash flow from elevated gold prices has allowed the company to deleverage quickly. This financial flexibility should help fund future growth projects in Colombia and Guyana with internally generated cash.

BSD Analysis:
Aris Mining is a gold producer with real operating assets rather than promotional optionality. Its value is driven by execution, costs, and jurisdiction management, not exploration headlines. Colombia adds complexity, but also upside if operations run cleanly. Investors lump Aris into generic gold beta and miss company-specific leverage. Balance sheet improvement matters more than production growth at this stage. Gold price moves dominate sentiment, but margins are the real swing factor. If costs stay controlled, free cash flow shows up quickly. This is mining discipline, not lottery-ticket geology. Cycles reward operators, not storytellers.

Pitch Summary:
The largest detractor from performance was Paysafe (United Kingdom). The online payments provider reported a weak quarter, with Digital Wallets growing more slowly than anticipated. Margins in the Merchant Solutions segment also came under pressure. Ongoing regulatory headwinds further complicated the outlook. Given a growth trajectory that continues to fall short of expectations, our investment team chose to exit the position.

BSD Analysis:
Paysafe operates in payments niches others avoid, monetizing complexity rather than mass-market scale. Exposure to iGaming, digital wallets, and alternative payments creates real volume but messy optics. Execution missteps hurt credibility, not demand. Investors price Paysafe like a broken fintech rather than a fixer-upper infrastructure play. Cost rationalization and focus on core verticals are improving cash flow quality. Switching costs are higher than they appear once merchants integrate compliance-heavy payment flows. Growth doesn’t need to be explosive to matter here. This is payments plumbing with scars, not a zero. Execution decides the rerate.

Pitch Summary:
The top contributor to our performance during the quarter was Tower Semiconductor (Israel), as investors rewarded its stronger-than-expected results and growing recognition as a key beneficiary of accelerating AI demand. Momentum in its RF infrastructure and silicon photonics businesses remains strong, with customer demand far outpacing current supply. This imbalance has prompted the company to accelerate capacity expansion. Management expects this expansion to materially lift margins over time. The company’s positioning in specialized semiconductor applications continues to differentiate it from larger commodity foundries.

BSD Analysis:
Tower is a specialty foundry focused on analog, power, and RF chips where process stability matters more than bleeding-edge nodes. That niche creates longer product lifecycles and stickier customer relationships than headline-driven logic fabs. Cyclicality exists, but demand is tied to industrial, automotive, and infrastructure end markets that don’t disappear. Investors often dismiss Tower because it isn’t part of the AI hype loop. Yet power management and analog content keep rising in every system. Capital discipline matters more here than capex heroics. Margins reflect specialization, not scale wars. This is quiet semiconductor infrastructure with patience-tested economics.

Pitch Summary:
HubSpot Inc., a cloud-based customer relationship management platform provider, dropped by -14%. The company delivered a beat-and-raise quarter, but elevated expectations following its September Analyst Day—where it disclosed 25% year-on-year growth in net new annualized recurring revenues for the first half of 2025—led investors to anticipate near-term revenue acceleration. This improvement is expected to materialize gradually rather than immediately. In our subsequent meeting with the company, their CEO expressed confidence in sustained core growth levers, including platform consolidation, multi-hub adoption, and strong upmarket momentum.

BSD Analysis:
HubSpot is the default operating system for SMB marketing and sales, and that position is stickier than the market gives it credit for. Once a business builds workflows, data, and reporting inside HubSpot, switching becomes more painful than the subscription line item suggests. Growth has moderated as SMBs watch budgets, but churn remains controlled and expansion per customer continues. The platform strategy works because CRM, marketing, service, and content all reinforce each other. Investors worry about competition from bigger suites, but HubSpot wins by being simpler, not broader. AI features monetize best when layered into existing workflows, and HubSpot has plenty of surface area. Margins improve as sales efficiency scales, not through financial engineering. This is SMB software infrastructure, not a growth fad. When small businesses spend again, HubSpot is already inside.

Pitch Summary:
Amphenol Corp. designs and manufactures electrical, electronic, and fiber-optic connectors. Its shares climbed 9% on the heels of a strong quarter, with revenues and earnings well above both company guidance and Street estimates. Management noted their production cycle times have shortened after adding capacity to service demand. Defense, commercial aerospace, and data communications were highlighted for solid sales.

BSD Analysis:
Amphenol is a silent compounder sitting inside nearly every growth theme without chasing narratives. Its connectors are small-ticket but mission-critical, giving it pricing power and brutal switching costs. Content per system keeps rising as electronics grow more complex. Exposure spans aerospace, defense, data centers, and industrial automation. Investors treat it like a generic components supplier and miss the engineering depth. Margins reflect customization and scale, not volume churn. Bolt-on acquisitions are disciplined and accretive. This is infrastructure hidden inside hardware. Complexity pays tolls.

Pitch Summary:
During the quarter we initiated a position in Karman Holdings, a missile systems design and manufacturing specialist. Despite good third quarter results, its share price experienced weakness amid a broader sell-off in space and defense stocks, which provided a good entry point. We believe Karman remains well-positioned as a vital picks-and-shovels provider in the defense and commercial space industries. As a critical enabler across the sector, the company supports the replenishment of defense stockpiles, the expansion of commercial satellite constellations like Starlink and Amazon Kuiper, and major Department of Defense investments in hypersonic and air defense systems.

BSD Analysis:
Karman is a niche aerospace and defense supplier benefiting from rearmament and supply-chain requalification trends. Approved vendor status creates real barriers that aren’t obvious in financial statements. Program lives stretch for decades once platforms enter production. Margins are driven by engineering content rather than raw materials. Investors underestimate how sticky defense supply chains become in stressed environments. Capacity and quality matter more than scale. Balance sheet discipline supports patience. This is small-cap defense leverage with real barriers. Scarcity favors incumbents.

Pitch Summary:
Veeva Systems Inc. provides industry cloud solutions to the global life sciences industry. The company delivered solid fiscal third-quarter results and issued guidance above the Street. Veeva management reiterated confidence in achieving its 2030 financial targets, maintaining that the current focus on competitive dynamics with Salesforce.com in the customer relationship management (CRM) market (20% of Veeva’s total revenues) does not undermine its long-term trajectory. Despite these positives, the stock sold off by -25% on competitive concerns in the CRM market as Veeva projected lower Vault CRM customer versus its initial expectations.

BSD Analysis:
Veeva owns the operating system of regulated life sciences, where compliance risk makes switching software dangerous. CRM is just the entry point; clinical, quality, and regulatory modules drive durable expansion. Biotech funding slowdowns hurt growth optics, not customer dependence. Regulatory standards effectively entrench incumbents like Veeva. Pricing power exists because failure is not an option. Investors compare Veeva to generic SaaS and miss the moat. As pipelines restart, growth reaccelerates naturally. This is regulated SaaS compounding on its own clock.

Pitch Summary:
Interactive Brokers Group Inc. offers custody and account services for hedge funds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, registered investment advisers, and individual investors. Third-quarter earnings surpassed Street estimates. The upside was driven by robust account growth, higher revenues, and lower expenses. December marked the thirteenth consecutive month with year-over-year account growth above 30%. Reflecting a broader market pullback, total client Daily Average Revenue Trades (DARTs) declined sequentially in December as volumes softened across equities, options, and futures. Despite this year-end dip, fourth-quarter DARTs comfortably surpassed Wall Street estimates. Shares of Interactive Brokers fell by -6% in the quarter.

BSD Analysis:
Interactive Brokers runs a brokerage like a software platform, optimized for automation and scale rather than marketing spend. Its low-cost, high-functionality offering attracts active traders and institutions others can’t profitably serve. Higher rates lifted net interest income, but volatility is the real earnings accelerator. Incremental accounts cost very little to support, creating extreme operating leverage. Investors fixate on cyclical trading volumes. Meanwhile, global market access and product breadth quietly drive share gains. Pricing discipline protects margins competitors can’t match. This is financial infrastructure for serious users, not gamified speculation.

Pitch Summary:
JFrog Ltd., the portfolio’s strongest performer this quarter. JFrog manages the software supply chain and enables organizations to securely deliver software updates across their enterprises. Demand for security increased following the recent NPM supply chain attack. JFrog's security add-on—which secures open-source packages before organizations onboard them—has seen significant pipeline growth, driving a 32% rally in its shares.

BSD Analysis:
JFrog sells developer infrastructure that becomes invisible once it works—and impossible to remove once embedded. Software supply-chain complexity makes artifact management mission-critical, not optional. Spend optimization slowed growth optics but didn’t reduce dependency. Consumption-based pricing improves revenue quality over time. Investors confuse optimization cycles with competitive loss. Security and DevOps convergence expands wallet share. Operating leverage emerges as scale absorbs platform costs. This is plumbing for modern software factories, not experimental SaaS.

Pitch Summary:
New to the strategy was Axogen, Inc., which develops technologies for peripheral nerve regeneration and repair from injuries caused by trauma, chronic conditions, or surgical procedures. Its flagship product, Avance Nerve Graft, is a decellularized human nerve allograft that preserves native nerve microarchitecture while eliminating immune rejection risk. It is the only FDA-approved implantable biological nerve allograft on the market.

BSD Analysis:
Axogen operates in nerve repair, a niche medtech category with real unmet clinical need. Outcomes matter more than procedure volume, which supports long-term adoption if data holds. Surgeon education and reimbursement are the gating factors, not awareness. Revenue growth has been uneven, testing investor patience. Cash burn and capital access remain real risks. Yet first-mover advantage and clinical specialization create defensibility. If utilization scales, operating leverage is substantial. This is medtech execution risk, not a science problem.

Pitch Summary:
Uranium Energy is the largest licensed uranium miner in the U.S. We believe it is well-positioned to benefit from the renewed focus on nuclear power as a long-term energy solution and from U.S. efforts to strengthen domestic nuclear fuel supply chains for national security. However, recent volatility in uranium prices weighed on the stock, which declined -12% during the quarter. We continued to build our position in Uranium Energy after our first purchases at the end of September.

BSD Analysis:
Uranium Energy is leverage to a tightening uranium market rather than a traditional operating miner. Its value is driven by uranium prices, supply discipline, and geopolitical re-rating of nuclear power. Production optionality matters more than current output. Investors often confuse lack of cash flow with lack of relevance. Inventory strategy gives torque without immediate capex risk. Nuclear restarts and SMR narratives support long-term demand. Volatility is inherent and unavoidable. This is a commodity optionality vehicle, not a steady business. Timing dominates fundamentals.

Pitch Summary:
While Ollie's Bargain Outlet saw a -15% return, we have been increasing our position in the specialty retailer for closeouts, excess inventory, and salvage merchandise. Revenues were slightly below expectations as consumers shifted to even lower-priced store inventory, though Ollie’s managed costs and reported better-than-expected earnings. Membership in Ollie’s Army loyalty club grew as did the number of Ollie’s stores, which we believe bodes well for its 2026 results.

BSD Analysis:
Ollie’s thrives when retail excess meets consumer thrift, which makes it structurally counter-cyclical. Its closeout sourcing model improves when manufacturers and retailers misjudge demand. Traffic benefits as consumers trade down without sacrificing brand recognition. Investors worry about inconsistent inventory quality, but that randomness is the moat. Gross margins expand when supply dislocations increase. New store economics remain compelling with ample white space. Execution matters more than macro timing. This is off-price retail that benefits from chaos. When retail breaks, Ollie’s shops.

Pitch Summary:
It was a rollercoaster ride for shares in Warby Parker, which ended the quarter down by -22%. The online eyewear retailer’s shares slid down sharply through October as the market was cautious ahead of November’s fiscal quarterly report, and we added to our position. Warby reported lower-than-expected sales, though better margins led to higher earnings. After speaking with management, we believe Warby’s core operations were stable, and the prevailing stock price undervalued the benefits from 2026’s Google’s smart glasses launch. Toward the end of the year, enthusiasm for smart glasses lifted Warby’s shares, and we trimmed the position.

BSD Analysis:
Warby Parker is a vertically integrated eyewear brand that proved disruption was possible, then discovered execution is the harder part. Brand awareness remains strong, but physical retail expansion exposed cost and productivity challenges. Eyewear demand is non-discretionary over time, even if purchase timing shifts. Vertical integration gives Warby pricing control competitors envy, but it also demands operational excellence. Investors fixate on margin pressure and miss the durability of the customer relationship. Vision care is recurring by nature, not fashion-driven. The question is no longer demand, but unit economics discipline. If store productivity stabilizes, leverage is meaningful. This is a brand rebuilding profitability, not relevance.