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Baron Opportunity Fund

Symbol BIOPXCUSIP: 068278407
Symbol BIOPXCUSIP: 068278407
A
All-Cap Growth

Nav

$48.35

Daily Change $0.07 (0.14%)
As of 11/12/2024

Net Assets

$1.36 B

As of 09/30/2024

Morningstar Rating™

As of 09/30/2024

Morningstar Medalist Rating™

medal Logo

GOLD

Inception date

02/29/2000

Prices & Performance

PricesAs of 11/12/2024

NAVDaily Change ($)Daily Change (%)MTDQTDYTD
$48.35$0.070.14%8.41%9.59%37.05%
NAV$48.35
Daily Change ($)$0.07
Daily Change (%)0.14%
MTD8.41%
QTD9.59%
YTD37.05%

PerformanceAs of 09/30/2024

Portfolio or IndexQTD1YTD11 Year3 Years5 Years10 YearsSince Inception 02/29/2000
BIOPX - Baron Opportunity Fund3.98%25.06%43.85%3.22%20.82%16.96%9.67%
Russell 3000 Growth Index3.42%24.00%41.47%11.31%19.09%16.04%7.48%
S&P 500 Index5.89%22.08%36.35%11.91%15.98%13.38%8.04%

Performance InformationAs of 09/30/2024

Performance statistics3 Years5 Years10 Years
Standard Deviation (%)25.1924.4720.68
Sharpe Ratio-0.020.750.74
Alpha (%)-8.140.57-0.23
Beta1.151.091.10
R-Squared (%)89.2683.9083.78
Tracking Error (%)8.819.998.52
Information Ratio-0.920.170.11
Upside Capture (%)97.15106.66108.58
Downside Capture (%)125.41104.91110.90
Except for Standard Deviation and Sharpe Ratio, the performance based-characteristics above were calculated relative to the Baron Opportunity Fund's(BIOPX) benchmark (Russell 3000 Growth Index). Performance statistics for additional periods will be provided on request. Source FactSet: SPAR.

Portfolio Holdings & Characteristics

HoldingsAs of 10/31/2024

HoldingSector% of Net Assets
NVIDIA Corporation
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) sells semiconductors, systems, and software for accelerated computing, gaming, and generative AI (Gen AI).
Computing demand has been doubling every one to two years, driven by electrification, digitization, and recent advancements in AI, yet supply growth has decelerated dramatically due to the slowdown in Moore's law. NVIDIA’s accelerated computing architecture enables continued growth in supply of computing through parallelization. We are at the tipping point of a new era in computing, with NVIDIA at its epicenter as Gen AI adoption grows. Given its leading market share in gaming, data centers, and autonomous machines, we believe NVIDIA can grow rapidly for years to come.
Information Technology12.6%
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is a software company traditionally known for its Windows and Office products. Over the last five years, it has built a $120 billion-plus annual cloud business, including Office 365, CRM product Dynamics 365, and infrastructure-as-a-service product Azure.
Over the past decade, Microsoft has transformed itself, refocusing the business on cloud computing and AI. Microsoft's commercial cloud business now represents over 56% of revenue and is growing around 25% year-on-year. Its moat is built on the wide reach of its sales channel, its diverse platform of software offerings, its hybrid cloud capabilities, and the high costs of switching away from its solutions, which tend to be mission critical for customers. We believe Microsoft will benefit from the growing adoption of cloud for years to come.
Information Technology11.5%
Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) is an e-commerce pioneer, innovator, and market share leader with a relentless focus on providing value and convenience to its customers. Amazon also operates the industry-leading cloud infrastructure business Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Amazon's market share of U.S. online retail sales is around 40%, while its share of global online retail sales is less than 5%. Amazon has many avenues for revenue growth, including consumer staples, apparel, international expansion, digital media offerings, private label, pharmacy services, advertising, and a better shopping experience powered by generative AI. Amazon also represents an opportunity to invest in the secular growth of cloud computing through AWS, a large, growing part of the business.
Consumer Discretionary6.7%
Meta Platforms, Inc.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) owns Facebook, the world's largest social network, with over 3.0 billion monthly and over 2.1 billion daily active users. Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Oculus are also part of the Meta Platforms network, with over 3.9 billion total monthly unique users across Meta products.
Meta owns unique social platforms with users that continue to demonstrate stickiness and high engagement. Advertisers want to be where users are, and Meta's ability to analyze, target, and show clear, demonstrable, and rising returns on investment makes the platform particularly attractive to them. We believe the company is still in the middle innings of monetizing its vast customer base, especially internationally. In addition, we see significant positive optionality from monetization opportunities in video, WhatsApp, business messaging, and generative AI features.
Communication Services5.1%
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. (AAPL) designs, manufactures, and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. Its products include the iPhone, iPad, Mac personal computer, Apple smartwatch, Apple TV, and HomePod. It also offers advertising and app discovery services through its App Store. 
As the creator and owner of one of the largest and most popular consumer electronics platforms, Apple, in our view, is well positioned to benefit from the network effect that typically accrues to platform companies. It has a large and growing ecosystem, a trusted brand, and positive optionality through leveraging its large installed base to expand into additional consumer and enterprise services. We believe Apple trades at a discount to our estimate of its intrinsic value, with capital return and growth alleviating near-term trade and iPhone demand uncertainty.
Information Technology4.5%
Broadcom Inc.
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) designs, develops, and supplies a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions. Its semiconductor devices serve broadband, networking, wireless, storage, and industrial markets while its software offerings focus on operational efficiency tools for large enterprises.
Broadcom’s semiconductor portfolio is reaching an inflection point, driven by its AI solutions in networking and custom compute. We expect mid-single-digits growth for the rest of the semiconductor portfolio and low-single-digits growth for the legacy software offerings, driven by cost efficiencies, cross-selling, and servicing key enterprise accounts. Broadcom's product simplification and SaaS conversion strategy should drive expansion of its VMWare business as well. The company has best-in-class margins and cash flow, which it returns to shareholders.
Information Technology4.5%
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 Discretionary4.3%
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 Services3.0%
argenx SE
Argenx SE (ARGX) is a biotechnology company developing antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. The company is in the early years of the commercial launch of its drug Vyvgart, which promises to change the treatment paradigm for a host of autoantibody immune disorders.
Argenx's main product, efgartigimod, which treats a rare muscle weakness disorder, has potentially broad applicability in ameliorating overactive antibody-based diseases. Efgartigimod is a true "pipeline in a product," where the product itself is the platform, as it has the potential to be used against a diverse range of diseases – something that is rarely achieved in the biotechnology space. We expect the share price to increase as argenx proves its product’s effectiveness in multiple autoantibody disorders.
Health Care2.8%
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.
Industrials2.7%
Total
Total
57.7%
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.

Contributors / DetractorsQuarterly as of 09/30/2024

Top ContributorsAverage WeightContribution
Tesla, Inc.4.07%1.08%
Meta Platforms, Inc.4.82%0.73%
Guidewire Software, Inc.2.02%0.64%
argenx SE2.49%0.60%
Arcellx, Inc.1.11%0.48%
Source: FactSet PA.

GICS Sector BreakdownAs of 10/31/2024

Sector

Information Technology

55.4%

Consumer Discretionary

12.2%

Communication Services

9.8%

Health Care

9.5%

Industrials

4.0%

Financials

3.9%

Real Estate

2.5%

Cash & Cash Equivalents

2.5%

Materials

0.2%

Sub-Industry

10/31/2024
Semiconductors19.70%
Systems Software15.00%
Application Software9.50%
Biotechnology7.40%
Broadline Retail 6.70%
Interactive Media & Services5.20%
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals4.50%
Automobile Manufacturers4.30%
Transaction & Payment Processing Services 3.90%
Movies & Entertainment3.00%
Aerospace & Defense2.70%
Internet Services & Infrastructure2.60%
Real Estate Services 2.50%
IT Consulting & Other Services2.40%
Health Care Equipment2.10%
048121620
Semiconductors19.70%
Systems Software15.00%
Application Software9.50%
Biotechnology7.40%
Broadline Retail 6.70%
Interactive Media & Services5.20%
Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals4.50%
Automobile Manufacturers4.30%
Transaction & Payment Processing Services 3.90%
Movies & Entertainment3.00%
Aerospace & Defense2.70%
Internet Services & Infrastructure2.60%
Real Estate Services 2.50%
IT Consulting & Other Services2.40%
Health Care Equipment2.10%
048121620

Portfolio CharacteristicsAs of 09/30/2024

DescriptionBaron Opportunity FundRussell 3000 Growth Index
Inception DateFebruary 29, 2000
Net Assets$1.36 billion
# of Issuers / % of Net Assets43 / 99.1%
Turnover (3 Year Average)28.91%
Active Share52.5%
Median Market Cap$41.46 billion$2.07 billion
Weighted Average Market Cap$1.26 trillion$1.50 trillion
Expense Ratio1.32%
Current Expense Ratio Date9/30/2023
EPS Growth (3-5 year forecast)21.6%18.8%
Price/Earnings Ratio (trailing 12-month)42.535.1
Price/Book Ratio8.78.7
Price/Sales Ratio8.74.8
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.

Distributions

Record DateEx DatePayable DateIncomeReturn of CapitalShort-Term Capital GainLong-Term Capital GainTotalRe-Invest NAVCalendar-Year Return
11/22/202111/23/202111/24/2021$0.0000$0.0000$2.0076$1.5956$3.6032$42.8612.01%
11/23/202011/24/202011/25/2020$0.0000$0.0000$0.1878$2.5970$2.7848$35.5388.75%
11/25/201911/26/201911/27/2019$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$1.6760$1.6760$22.44
11/28/201811/29/201811/30/2018$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$0.9258$0.9258$19.108.05%
11/27/201711/28/201711/29/2017$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$2.6493$2.6493$16.9540.51%
For estimated distributions, visit the Tax Center
Michael Lippert, Vice President, Portfolio Manager and Head of Technology Research
Investor Series

Baron Opportunity Fund: Investing in Sustainable Secular Trends in Innovation

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