Baron Asset Fund

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX, SPCX) is a vertically integrated space, connectivity, and AI company. It builds reusable rockets like Starship and runs Starlink and Starlink Mobile (over 12 million subscribers, over 160 markets). It is a leading AI vendor with xAI, Cursor, and dense datacenters.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX, SPCX) is a vertically integrated leader in space, global connectivity, and AI. Rocket reusability drives industry-leading launch cadence and costs, fueling Starlink’s expansion across broadband, enterprise, and government, and a growing mobile push. Starship should lower costs further and carry next-gen satellites. With xAI and Cursor, SpaceX sells frontier models and AI coding tools backed by in-house compute and chips. Longer term, orbital AI could offer solar-powered compute at unprecedented scale, an edge few can replicate. 

Amphenol Corporation (APH) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of interconnect products—including connectors, cable assemblies, and fiber optic components—serving data center and artificial intelligence infrastructure, defense, commercial aerospace, automotive, and industrial customers globally.
Amphenol Corporation (APH) has a strong track record of shareholder value creation through organic growth and acquisitions. The company has historically benefited from diverse end-market exposure and a decentralized operating culture, supporting balanced performance across cycles, while today’s growth is largely led by Amphenol’s leading positions across key products used in AI infrastructure. We expect its agility, innovation, quality, and reliability to sustain a strong position in this rapidly growing market and drive outsized earnings growth for years to come.

Arch Capital Group Ltd. (ACGL) is a Bermuda-based insurance company that provides property and casualty insurance, reinsurance, and mortgage insurance around the world.
Arch Capital Group Ltd. (ACGL) 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. With only 2% share of a $1 trillion global commercial insurance market, Arch has a long runway for growth. Management has demonstrated strong underwriting discipline and capital stewardship, allowing Arch to maintain industry-leading returns on equity with less volatility than peers.

Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (MTD) is the world's leading supplier of precision laboratory balances and industrial weighing instruments, serving pharmaceutical, chemical, food, and academic customers globally, alongside product inspection systems and automated chemistry solutions.
Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (MTD) has a track record of consistent growth. The company has strong brand recognition, customer diversification, pricing power, and margin expansion opportunities. We think the business has attractive financial characteristics, including high returns on capital, minimal capital requirements, and solid free cash flow generation, which it uses to repurchase its stock. We believe the management team is an excellent steward of capital and skilled at developing sales and marketing initiatives to enhance growth.

Guidewire Software, Inc. (GWRE) is the leading cloud-native software platform for the property and casualty insurance industry, providing core systems for policy, billing, and claims management to insurers globally, with accelerating cloud adoption among both regional and Tier 1 carriers.
Guidewire Software, Inc. (GWRE) is a best-in-class core system of record for P&C insurers, managing policies, claims, premiums, and payments across highly regulated workflows. We see a long runway as carriers modernize legacy systems, with the core opportunity approaching $20 billion of annual recurring revenue. AI should expand this opportunity through automation and intelligence layered on top of InsuranceSuite, while improving internal productivity. With the cloud migration largely complete, we expect accelerating revenue, margin expansion, and improving free cash flow.

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) is a leading data analytics and decision support provider for the insurance industry, supplying actuarial underwriting data, catastrophe risk models, claims management solutions, and anti-fraud tools under long-term subscription contracts.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) is, we believe, uniquely positioned among its competitors. The company is continually investing to expand its product set in insurance, and we think this pure-play focus on insurance offers an attractive financial profile with mid- to high-single-digit organic growth, robust margins (with room for expansion), and strong free cash flow generation.

Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR) is the leading specialty contractor providing engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance services for electric power transmission and distribution, renewable energy generation, data center infrastructure, and pipeline systems across North America.
Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR) is a leading energy infrastructure solutions provider with a core competency in training and building a skilled labor force. The company is uniquely positioned to capitalize on multiyear secular tailwinds, including increased utility grid spending, transmission upgrades, data center build-outs, renewable energy adoption, reshoring, and electrification. We believe management’s 15% to 20% EPS growth target through 2030 may prove conservative as demand continues to accelerate across several of the company’s service offerings.

Gartner, Inc. (IT) is the leading independent provider of research and advisory services for IT, HR, sales, finance, and marketing leaders.
Gartner, Inc. (IT) is, we believe, positioned to generate sustained high-single-digit revenue growth as rapid technology change increases demand for trusted third-party research and advisory services. The company’s syndicated research platform is highly scalable, creating a path for consistent margin expansion as the company grows. Gartner is highly cash generative and is aggressively returning capital to shareholders. It has reduced its share count by 14% over the LTM, and can buy back the entire business over the next five years just using projected FCF.

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX) is the global leader in veterinary diagnostics, offering point-of-care and reference laboratory testing instruments, consumables, and software for companion animal practices worldwide, complemented by water quality and livestock diagnostics businesses.
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX) benefits from secular growth in pet-related spending driven by a strengthening human–animal bond, favorable demographics, increased use of diagnostics, and a greater focus on preventative care. Its excellent execution has enabled the company to continue delivering robust performance. We believe IDEXX’s competitive trends are outstanding, and we expect new proprietary innovations—such as InVue, MultiCue, and CancerDX—to be meaningful contributors to growth in the years ahead. 

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) is a leading global hotel company operating a luxury-weighted portfolio of franchised and managed brands, earning royalty and management fees from over 1,300 properties, with 90% of earnings now derived from asset-light fee revenue.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (H) has, we believe, a significant opportunity to market more of its brands globally, given an undersupply of rooms across the world. Compared to peers, Hyatt has the lowest global brand penetration and the largest pipeline of unit growth. We believe its asset-light strategy and strong balance sheet, coupled with robust pricing for hotel assets, give Hyatt an opportunity to generate strong growth in earnings and cash flow, which the company could use for buybacks and tuck-in acquisitions.