AMG Frontier Small Cap Growth 2025 Q2 (PGY)
Pitch Summary: Pagaya is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fintech company that operates as a two-sided platform connecting banks and other traditional lenders with institutional investors to provide retail credit. The company’s AI models help its institutional lending partners identify creditworthy borrowers who, for various reasons, are unable to obtain credit (mostly personal loans and auto […]
Alphyn Capital Management 2025 Q2 (OCSL)
Pitch Summary: I sold OCSL after management had to admit three new non-accruals, including a 50% write-down on investment in Pluralsight alongside smaller hits at AT Holdings and Dialyze. Those impairments reduced the net asset value and demonstrated that an almost 80% first-lien book can still experience credit pressure, leaving earnings flat and my expected […]
Alphyn Capital Management 2025 Q2 (KMX)
Pitch Summary: I fully exited CarMax after several years in which the share price stagnated while peers such as Carvana captured most of the market’s enthusiasm. CarMax long occupied a place in the portfolio as the scale player in US used vehicle retail, with proprietary auction data, nationwide reconditioning capacity, and a finance arm that […]
Alger Weatherbie Specialized Growth Fund 2025 Q2 (UPST)
Pitch Summary: Upstart Holdings, Inc. provides a cloud-based lending platform that uses artificial intelligence to help banks and lenders make better lending decisions. The company primarily offers personal loans but has also expanded into auto loans and other types of lending. Shares contributed positively during the quarter after the company reported strong fiscal-first quarter operating […]
abrdn High Income Opportunities Fund 2025 Q3 (BRKM5 BZ)
Pitch Summary: Braskem’s bonds declined sharply after the company reportedly hired restructuring advisors. Given the extent of negative news already priced in, we have chosen to maintain our current exposure after extensive internal and external discussions. BSD Analysis: Braskem faces credit stress amid restructuring concerns, with elevated leverage (~4.5x Net Debt/EBITDA) and legacy liabilities. The […]
Oakmark Fixed Income 2025 Q3 (ARE US)
Pitch Summary: Take Alexandria Real Estate. Headlines about weak biotech funding and oversupply have weighed on sentiment, but the company owns irreplaceable campuses in Boston, San Francisco and San Diego. Plus, demand from large-cap pharma and research institutions is steady, even as smaller biotech faces funding pressure. In addition, new construction is slowing, which eases […]
Maple Tree Capital – Jonagold 2025 Q3 (UPST)
Pitch Summary: Our largest holding, Upstart, reported mixed Q2 2025 results, holding an increased position of loans on the balance sheet. This caused shares to fall nearly 20% following ER, as the market expected an ATM capital raise which was soon to follow. Additionally, in late September, BTIG, an investment management firm, published a report […]
BlackRock Managed Income Fund 2025 Q3 (MSCI)
Pitch Summary: The fund outperformed its benchmark due to additive U.S. equity and covered call selection, as well as selection within high-quality fixed income. There were numerous tactical changes amid a rapidly evolving environment. Overall equity exposure increased, particularly through additions to international equities. Some U.S. duration exposure was reduced in favor of German bunds […]
FMI All Cap Equity 2025 Q3 (OMF US)
Pitch Summary: OneMain is a scale leader in nonprime personal lending. Although they have a messy corporate history, our research suggests that in most key areas they are superior to their peers. We believe with a few years of clean results and an improved macro environment, this company could be reframed as a differentiated, high-quality […]
Baron Opportunity Fund (FFBC)
Pitch Summary: In September, we purchased a position in First Financial Bancorp (“FFBC”). First Financial is an $18 billion asset commercial bank headquartered in Cincinnati, OH. We think FFBC is a well-run commercial bank that is trading too cheap. We don’t think FFBC is extraordinary, but we believe it is a better than average bank […]
Baron FinTech Fund (FICO)
Pitch Summary: Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) is a leading provider of credit scoring and decision analytics solutions, best known for the FICO Score, which is widely used by lenders to assess consumer credit risk. We believe FICO operates a highly attractive business model characterized by recurring revenue, high margins, and significant pricing power because of […]
Davidson Investment Advisors 2025 Q3 (MSFT US)
Pitch Summary: Davidson highlighted Microsoft as an example of extreme valuation dynamics, noting that its corporate bonds were recently yielding less than U.S. Treasuries due to market confidence in its credit quality. This observation underscores both the market’s optimism around AI-driven revenue growth and the broader concentration in mega-cap technology stocks. Davidson cautioned that while […]
CrossingBridge Advisors 2025 Q3 (CODI US)
Pitch Summary: CODI’s 5.25% senior notes due 2029 became attractive in early May 2025 following the discovery of accounting irregularities at its subsidiary, Lugano Diamonds. Despite market panic, CrossingBridge determined the issue was contained at the subsidiary level after reconstructing CODI’s balance sheet and cash flows excluding Lugano. The fund purchased the notes in the […]
CrossingBridge Advisors 2025 Q3 (FIRSTB US)
Pitch Summary: First Brands’ debt collapsed from the mid-90s to the mid-30s after the company defaulted and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late September 2025. The company had grown aggressively through 18 acquisitions funded by high leverage, reporting $5 billion in revenue and $1.1 billion in EBITDA in 2024. However, opaque reporting, inflated “adjusted […]
Black Bear Value Partners 2025 Q3 (FLG)
Pitch Summary: Flagstar Financial is the former New York Community Bank (a mashup of Flagstar Bank, New York Community Bank and assets from Signature Bank). Like our SHORT investments in Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic, FLG had a hole in their balance sheet (from soured multifamily and office real estate vs. long-duration securities). That […]
Aristotle Value Equity Fund 2025 Q3 (WFC US)
Pitch Summary: Wells Fargo is one of the country’s largest financial institutions, with total assets near $2 trillion. Historically one of the most profitable and efficient banks in the U.S., Wells Fargo’s reputation suffered from consumer scandals in 2016 that led to a Federal Reserve-imposed $1.95 trillion asset cap. In June 2025, the Fed lifted […]
DKAM Donville Kent Asset Management (GSY CT)
Pitch Summary: GoEasy (GSY) – GoEasy reported a strong quarter with a 23% ROE and reiterated their 2025 guidance. Of note, there was a short report issued on September 22nd. The stock declined from $204 to $175 as a result. We believe the report misrepresents many points, mostly around the accounting impacts as GoEasy has […]
Ariel Appreciation Fund 2025 Q3 (KMX)
Pitch Summary: CarMax, Inc. (KMX), a leading used and wholesale vehicle auction operator, was the largest performance detractor during the period, following disappointing earnings resulting from lower unit sales and increased loan loss provisions. Management cited normalized demand after customers sought to buy in advance of potential tariffs last quarter. The rise in provisions was […]
Latitude Global Fund (BAC US)
Pitch Summary: It was another very strong year for our US bank stocks with Goldman Sachs delivering +52% total return, JP Morgan +44% and Bank of America +34%. During the year we sold our position in Goldman Sachs which we had held in our equity strategy since the launch of the firm in 2016. It […]
abrdn High Income Opportunities Fund (BRKM5 BZ)
Pitch Summary: Braskem’s bonds declined sharply after the company reportedly hired restructuring advisors. Given the extent of negative news already priced in, we have chosen to maintain our current exposure after extensive internal and external discussions. BSD Analysis: Braskem’s bonds sold off sharply following reports that the company hired restructuring advisors, accelerating already significant spread […]
