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Baron WealthBuilder Fund

Symbol BWBFXCUSIP: 06828M710
Symbol BWBFXCUSIP: 06828M710
EA
Equity Allocation

Nav

$21.43

Daily Change $0.29 (1.37%)
As of 12/24/2024

Net Assets

$540.43 M

As of 09/30/2024

Morningstar Rating™

As of 11/30/2024

Morningstar Medalist Rating™

medal Logo

BRONZE

Inception date

12/29/2017

Prices & Performance

PricesAs of 12/24/2024

NAVDaily Change ($)Daily Change (%)MTDQTDYTD
$21.43$0.291.37%0.99%8.40%21.76%
NAV$21.43
Daily Change ($)$0.29
Daily Change (%)1.37%
MTD0.99%
QTD8.40%
YTD21.76%

PerformanceAs of 09/30/2024

Portfolio or IndexQTD1YTD11 Year3 Years5 YearsSince Inception 12/29/2017
BWBFX - Baron WealthBuilder Fund10.14%12.33%25.13%0.13%14.69%12.98%
S&P 500 Index5.89%22.08%36.35%11.91%15.98%13.98%
MSCI ACWI Index6.61%18.66%31.76%8.09%12.19%9.72%

Performance InformationAs of 09/30/2024

Performance statistics3 Years5 YearsSince Inception
Standard Deviation (%)22.2823.9322.41
Sharpe Ratio-0.160.510.48
Alpha (%)-11.77-3.30-2.57
Beta1.171.211.19
R-Squared (%)85.0182.7983.94
Tracking Error (%)9.1410.619.54
Information Ratio-1.29-0.12-0.10
Upside Capture (%)91.20108.38106.90
Downside Capture (%)139.31119.77115.68

Portfolio Holdings & Characteristics

HoldingsAs of 09/30/2024

HoldingSector% of Total Investments
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 Discretionary6.3%
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.
Financials4.5%
Gartner, Inc.
Gartner, Inc. (IT) is the leading independent provider of research and advisory services for IT, HR, sales, finance, and marketing leaders.
Gartner has a vast addressable market, which management estimates exceeds $70 billion annually, implying a penetration rate of less than 3%. IT is rapidly changing and growing in strategic importance, leading users to turn to third-party providers for insight into trends. Gartner enjoys retention rates of more than 100%, driven by the low price of its research relative to value. We think consistent execution in Global Technology Sales and improvements in Global Business Sales will help accelerate Research growth into the low double digits.
Information Technology3.9%
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.
Industrials3.0%
CoStar Group, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP) is the leading provider of information and marketing services to the commercial real estate industry.
CoStar has built a proprietary database through data collection over a 20-year period, creating high barriers to entry. We think CoStar's suite should grow at mid-teens rates, and we believe its Loopnet marketing platform can grow even faster. Its Apartments.com platform is the dominant multi-family internet listing service and should grow revenue by more than 20%. CoStar is starting to expand into residential, creating additional significant growth opportunities. Its balance sheet and cash generation create M&A optionality.
Real Estate2.8%
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 Technology2.5%
MSCI Inc.
MSCI Inc. (MSCI) provides investment decision support tools to global investment institutions.
We believe MSCI, the de facto standard for measuring global market performance, is positioned to benefit from the continuing development of emerging markets, passive investing, ESG, and the growth of global financial assets. We believe the company's indices remain the global standard for cross-border investing and will continue to be selected by institutions when issuing new mandates. Both the index and multi-asset portfolio and risk analytics products are mission-critical and deeply embedded in client workflows.
Financials2.3%
FactSet Research Systems Inc.
FactSet Research Systems Inc. (FDS) provides financial information to the global investment community.
FactSet serves only a small part of the addressable market, which we estimate at roughly $20 billion annually. The company offers broader data sets and more advanced portfolio analytics than peers and has a highly regarded customer service model. FactSet has also been expanding into the fixed income and wealth management markets. Its products are sticky, leading to retention rates of over 95% and high visibility. It generates robust free cash flow, which it has returned to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends.
Financials2.2%
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc.
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (IDXX) is the leading provider of diagnostics to the veterinary industry.
IDEXX has continued to benefit from secular growth spending on pets due to a growing human-animal bond, favorable demographics, increased use of diagnostics, and enhanced focus on preventative care. We think IDEXX has the best menu of diagnostics, which it continuously improves by spending six times more on R&D annually than all its competitors combined. The company's products are sold via a razor/razorblade model, which creates high retention rates and incremental margins. IDEXX generates strong cash flow, which it has returned to shareholders via repurchases.
Health Care1.8%
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 Discretionary1.7%
Total
Total
31.0%
Long Equity Exposure (% of Net Assets)
Long Equity Exposure
101.1%
Cash & Equivalents (% of Net Assets)
Cash & Equivalents
-1.1%
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
Baron Partners Fund12.85%1.78%
Baron Growth Fund14.02%1.53%
Baron Small Cap Fund13.27%1.24%
Baron Asset Fund12.42%1.05%
Baron Real Estate Fd Insti Shs6.12%1.04%
Source: FactSet PA.

GICS Sector BreakdownAs of 09/30/2024

Sector

Information Technology

21.4%

Consumer Discretionary

21.3%

Financials

19.8%

Industrials

11.5%

Health Care

10.9%

Real Estate

8.6%

Communication Services

4.6%

Materials

1.1%

Consumer Staples

0.7%

Energy

0.1%

Utilities

0.0%

Sub-Industry

09/30/2024
Application Software7.10%
Automobile Manufacturers6.30%
Property & Casualty Insurance6.20%
Financial Exchanges & Data5.90%
IT Consulting & Other Services4.80%
Aerospace & Defense4.30%
Life Sciences Tools & Services3.90%
Real Estate Services 3.50%
Health Care Equipment3.30%
Semiconductors3.20%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines3.10%
Systems Software2.70%
Broadline Retail 2.30%
Casinos & Gaming2.20%
Leisure Facilities2.00%
0246810
Application Software7.10%
Automobile Manufacturers6.30%
Property & Casualty Insurance6.20%
Financial Exchanges & Data5.90%
IT Consulting & Other Services4.80%
Aerospace & Defense4.30%
Life Sciences Tools & Services3.90%
Real Estate Services 3.50%
Health Care Equipment3.30%
Semiconductors3.20%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines3.10%
Systems Software2.70%
Broadline Retail 2.30%
Casinos & Gaming2.20%
Leisure Facilities2.00%
0246810

Portfolio CharacteristicsAs of 06/30/2024

DescriptionBaron WealthBuilder FundS&P 500 Index
Inception Date12/29/2017
Net Assets$540.43 million
# of Underlying Issuers407
# of Mutual Funds Held16
Turnover (3-Year Average)10.09%
Active Share84.2%
Median Market Cap$14.34 billion$34.83 billion
Weighted Average Market Cap$232.99 billion$1.01 trillion
Gross Expense Ratio1.40%
Net Expense Ratio1.36%
Current Expense Ratio Date12/31/2023
TA Shares
TA Cusip #06828M686
EPS Growth (3-5 year forecast)20.1%16.2%
Price/Earnings Ratio (trailing 12-month)27.225.8
Price/Book Ratio4.03.8
Price/Sales Ratio3.72.6
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
09/24/202409/25/202409/26/2024$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$19.62
09/26/202209/27/202209/28/2022$0.0818$0.0000$0.0025$0.3713$0.4556$13.94-32.75%
12/01/202112/02/202112/03/2021$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$0.8164$0.8164$21.1416.42%
10/04/202110/05/202110/06/2021$0.0000$0.0000$0.0030$0.3684$0.3714$21.2416.42%
11/30/202012/01/202012/02/2020$0.0000$0.0000$0.0000$0.0780$0.0780$18.1962.45%
For estimated distributions, visit the Tax Center