Baron Focused Growth Fund
Symbol BFGFXCUSIP: 06828M207
Symbol BFGFXCUSIP: 06828M207
S-M
Small- to Mid-Cap GrowthNav
$46.26
Daily Change -$0.02 (-0.04%)
As of 12/06/2024
As of 12/06/2024
Net Assets
$1.65 B
As of 09/30/2024
Morningstar Rating™
As of 09/30/2024
Morningstar Medalist Rating™
SILVER
Inception date
05/31/1996
Prices & Performance
PricesAs of 12/06/2024
NAV | Daily Change ($) | Daily Change (%) | MTD | QTD | YTD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
$46.26 | -$0.02 | -0.04% | 0.76% | 12.12% | 26.91% |
NAV | $46.26 |
---|---|
Daily Change ($) | -$0.02 |
Daily Change (%) | -0.04% |
MTD | 0.76% |
QTD | 12.12% |
YTD | 26.91% |
PerformanceAs of 09/30/2024
Portfolio or Index | QTD1 | YTD1 | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Since Inception 05/31/1996 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BFGFX - Baron Focused Growth Fund | 11.69% | 13.20% | 24.13% | 4.63% | 25.79% | 16.93% | 13.32% |
Russell 2500 Growth Index | 6.99% | 11.20% | 25.20% | -0.75% | 9.75% | 9.98% | 8.22% |
Russell 3000 Index | 6.23% | 20.63% | 35.19% | 10.29% | 15.26% | 12.83% | 9.78% |
Performance InformationAs of 09/30/2024
Performance statistics | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Since Inception |
---|---|---|---|---|
Standard Deviation (%) | 23.17 | 30.40 | 23.85 | 22.65 |
Sharpe Ratio | 0.04 | 0.77 | 0.64 | 0.49 |
Alpha (%) | 5.74 | 15.41 | 7.28 | 6.66 |
Beta | 0.94 | 1.10 | 1.00 | 0.83 |
R-Squared (%) | 79.02 | 68.46 | 66.75 | 66.28 |
Tracking Error (%) | 10.70 | 17.22 | 13.75 | 13.67 |
Information Ratio | 0.50 | 0.93 | 0.51 | 0.37 |
Upside Capture (%) | 100.39 | 130.66 | 111.24 | 97.26 |
Downside Capture (%) | 83.47 | 88.44 | 87.05 | 79.04 |
Except for Standard Deviation and Sharpe Ratio, the performance based-characteristics above were calculated relative to the Baron Focused Growth Fund's(BFGFX) benchmark (Russell 2500 Growth Index). Performance statistics for additional periods will be provided on request. Source FactSet: SPAR.
Risk & Return109/30/2021 - 09/30/2024
1 Source: FactSet SPAR.
Portfolio Holdings & Characteristics
HoldingsAs of 11/30/2024
Holding | Sector | % of Net Assets | |
---|---|---|---|
Tesla, Inc. Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) manufactures electric vehicles, including a luxury sedan and CUV (S/X), a mid-sized luxury sedan and hatchback (3/Y), and pickup and semi-trucks. It is also ramping up internal battery cell production, energy solutions, and software offerings such as full self-driving and insurance. We expect Tesla will continue to grow its automotive business through international production capacity and product expansion. Tesla's vertical integration, technology innovation, brand, profitability, and growing supplier support offer unique and durable growth opportunities that are hard to replicate. In addition, Tesla's energy and software expertise is broadening the industrial opportunity to large and profitable revenue avenues that were previously locked in the legacy vehicle architecture, such as autonomous driving, robotics, insurance, and other AI use cases. | Consumer Discretionary | 10.9% | |
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) designs, manufactures, and launches rockets, satellites, and spacecrafts. Its ultimate goal is to make humanity multi-planetary. Products include reusable orbital launch offerings and a broadband service leveraging its satellite constellation, Starlink. We believe SpaceX will continue to drive down the cost of space launches and capture market share with its unique, reliable, and improving reusable launch capabilities. As costs decline, we also expect demand for access to space to increase. By leveraging its launch cost leadership, vertical integration, and innovative design approach, we think SpaceX will have an advantage in building and operating its rapidly expanding satellite-based broadband services, creating an even more attractive growth profile for the company. | Industrials | 7.4% | |
Spotify Technology S.A. Spotify Technology S.A. (SPOT) is the world's leading music streaming service, with approximately 40% market share. The company monetizes through several tiers of subscriptions, advertising, and miscellaneous a la carte pricing. With over 246 million paying subscribers, Spotify has created a two-sided marketplace where creators can monetize their work and consumers can stream music. Longer term, we expect the company to grow to over one billion total subscribers (from 626 million today) and improve margins materially through advertising, its artist promotions marketplace, and improved cost discipline. On the product side, we expect Spotify to continually improve its value proposition through additional features and expansion into adjacencies such as audiobooks. | Communication Services | 6.4% | |
Guidewire Software, Inc. Guidewire Software, Inc. (GWRE) is a leading provider of core systems software to the global P&C insurance industry. Guidewire is a small player in a vast addressable market and has been benefiting from the inevitable need for P&C insurers to upgrade 30-year-old systems. The company offers best-in-class functionality, as evidenced by its growing installed base and near-100% retention rates. The company has passed the midpoint of its cloud transition, and we expect to see accelerating revenue, expanding margins, and improving FCF over the next several years. We believe that recent M&A in the vertical software space supports a meaningful value creation opportunity for shareholders. | Information Technology | 5.5% | |
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IBKR) is an automated global electronic broker. It provides low-cost execution, clearing, and settlement of trades for retail and institutional customers across multiple asset classes and currencies. Interactive Brokers is gaining share because of its advanced technology, quality of execution, and low trading costs. We expect the company to continue growing rapidly through international expansion and as domestic RIAs depart traditional institutions to launch their own firms. Interactive Brokers' competitive advantage comes from automation through best-in-class software engineering, which enables it to offer industry-low costs to customers. Founder and Chairman Thomas Peterffy is well regarded and is the company's largest shareholder. | Financials | 5.3% | |
Arch Capital Group Ltd. Arch Capital Group Ltd. (ACGL) is a Bermuda-based insurance company providing property & casualty insurance, reinsurance, and mortgage insurance. Arch is led by an experienced management team with a successful track record across insurance cycles. The company excels at underwriting specialized policies and can nimbly shift its business mix to target the most profitable lines as market conditions change. It operates in a large global market and is currently benefiting from favorable pricing trends across many of its product lines. In our view, management has demonstrated strong underwriting discipline and capital stewardship, allowing Arch to maintain industry-leading returns on equity with less volatility. | Financials | 4.6% | |
Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts, Inc. (MTN) is the largest ski resort operator in North America. It owns 42 resorts in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, and Australia, including Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado, Whistler Blackcomb in Canada, and Stowe in Vermont. Its RockResorts hotel brand offers luxury ski lodging properties. Vail has been upgrading its resorts to offer new and higher-quality services and amenities and summer recreational activities, which should attract more visitors. Vail is focused on growing season pass sales and has been acquiring resorts and forming partnerships to enhance the attractiveness of its season pass. We think price increases for season passes should not impact retention rates. The company has a strong balance sheet and free cash flow profile that it is using for acquisitions, investments in its resorts, dividend increases, share buybacks, and debt reduction. | Consumer Discretionary | 4.6% | |
On Holding AG On Holding AG (ONON), a Swiss premium performance sports brand specializing in footwear (roughly 95% of revenue), is one of the fastest-growing scaled athletic wear companies in the world. The company was founded in 2010 and continues to gain market share in the athletic footwear category. On is an innovative lifestyle brand blending technical performance and fashion/lifestyle elements to deliver a lineup of footwear, apparel, and accessories. We believe On is still early in its lifecycle as it expands its product line and distribution network. On benefits from strong brand loyalty, its commitment to sustainability, a focus on innovation, and a highly complementary, multi-channel distribution strategy. The sportswear market is a $355-billion-and-growing opportunity, of which On has a small share, implying a long growth runway. | Consumer Discretionary | 4.6% | |
Hyatt Hotels Corporation Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) is a global hospitality company with 1,352 Hyatt-branded properties representing 325,507 keys. The company's brands include Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Place, and Hyatt Summerfield Suite. It derives 85% of EBITDA from fees and 15% from owned assets. We believe Hyatt has a significant opportunity to market more of its brands globally, given an undersupply of rooms across the world. Compared to peers, Hyatt has the least global brand penetration and the largest pipeline of unit growth. We believe its asset light strategy and strong balance sheet, coupled with continued robust pricing for hotel assets, give Hyatt an opportunity to generate strong growth in earnings and cash flow. The resulting increased cash could be used for further buybacks and tuck-in acquisitions and could result in multiple expansion over time. | Consumer Discretionary | 4.2% | |
Shopify Inc. Shopify Inc. (SHOP) is a cloud-based software provider offering an operating system for multi-channel commerce. The company serves over two million merchants that processed $235 billion of gross merchandise volume (GMV) in 2023. Shopify is the second largest e-commerce player in the U.S. as measured by GMV. Shopify has developed a scalable platform that offers an end-to-end commerce solution to merchants of all sizes, including offline, international, and B2B. Shopify’s aggregate scale, innovation, and ecosystem of partners enable merchants to take payments, receive loans, and sell their products internationally. With less than 2% share of $20 trillion in global commerce, it has a long runway for growth. | Information Technology | 4.0% | |
Total Total | 57.5% |
Top Ten Fund Holdings based on net assets. Portfolio holdings may change over time.
Portfolio holdings are subject to change. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.
Portfolio holdings are subject to change. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.
Contributors / DetractorsQuarterly as of 09/30/2024
Top Contributors | Average Weight | Contribution |
---|---|---|
Tesla, Inc. | 9.25% | 2.74% |
Guidewire Software, Inc. | 5.27% | 1.63% |
On Holding AG | 4.32% | 1.21% |
Spotify Technology S.A. | 5.75% | 0.96% |
Shopify Inc. | 2.88% | 0.82% |
Source: FactSet PA.
GICS Sector BreakdownAs of 11/30/2024
Sector
Consumer Discretionary
39.3%
Financials
17.2%
Information Technology
13.1%
Industrials
9.9%
Communication Services
8.1%
Real Estate
5.2%
Health Care
4.2%
Cash & Cash Equivalents
3.1%
Sub-Industry
11/30/2024Automobile Manufacturers10.90%
Application Software9.10%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines8.20%
Aerospace & Defense7.40%
Movies & Entertainment6.90%
Footwear6.80%
Investment Banking & Brokerage6.30%
Financial Exchanges & Data6.30%
Property & Casualty Insurance4.60%
Leisure Facilities4.60%
Casinos & Gaming4.30%
Internet Services & Infrastructure4.00%
Real Estate Services 3.20%
Research & Consulting Services2.40%
Restaurants2.30%
024681012
Automobile Manufacturers10.90%
Application Software9.10%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines8.20%
Aerospace & Defense7.40%
Movies & Entertainment6.90%
Footwear6.80%
Investment Banking & Brokerage6.30%
Financial Exchanges & Data6.30%
Property & Casualty Insurance4.60%
Leisure Facilities4.60%
Casinos & Gaming4.30%
Internet Services & Infrastructure4.00%
Real Estate Services 3.20%
Research & Consulting Services2.40%
Restaurants2.30%
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Portfolio CharacteristicsAs of 09/30/2024
Description | Baron Focused Growth Fund | Russell 2500 Growth Index |
---|---|---|
Inception Date | May 31, 1996 | |
Net Assets | $1.65 billion | |
# of Issuers / % of Net Assets | 29 / 97.9% | |
Turnover (3 Year Average) | 21.68% | |
Active Share | 98.7% | |
Median Market Cap | $20.77 billion | $1.54 billion |
Weighted Average Market Cap | $126.69 billion | $6.72 billion |
Expense Ratio | 1.32% | |
Current Expense Ratio Date | 12/31/2023 | |
EPS Growth (3-5 year forecast) | 21.0% | 18.3% |
Price/Earnings Ratio (trailing 12-month) | 26.0 | 23.9 |
Price/Book Ratio | 5.1 | 4.4 |
Price/Sales Ratio | 3.8 | 2.0 |
The Net Assets include all share classes combined.
Price/Book Ratio and Price/Sales Ratio are calculated using the Weighted Harmonic Average. Source: FactSet PA. Internal valuation metrics may differ.
Price/Book Ratio and Price/Sales Ratio are calculated using the Weighted Harmonic Average. Source: FactSet PA. Internal valuation metrics may differ.
Distributions
Record Date | Ex Date | Payable Date | Income | Return of Capital | Short-Term Capital Gain | Long-Term Capital Gain | Total | Re-Invest NAV | Calendar-Year Return |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
09/26/2022 | 09/27/2022 | 09/28/2022 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $3.5144 | $3.5144 | $30.37 | -28.30% |
11/22/2021 | 11/23/2021 | 11/24/2021 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $5.5014 | $5.5014 | $44.90 | 18.83% |
09/22/2021 | 09/23/2021 | 09/24/2021 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $1.4145 | $1.4145 | $45.57 | 18.83% |
11/23/2020 | 11/24/2020 | 11/25/2020 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.9837 | $0.9837 | $37.88 | 122.21% |
09/23/2020 | 09/24/2020 | 09/25/2020 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.0000 | $0.2541 | $0.2541 | $31.80 | 122.21% |
For estimated distributions, visit the Tax Center
Investor Series
Baron Focused Growth Fund: A Focused, Highly Differentiated Investment Approach
Learn more about the investment approach for Baron Focused Growth Fund.