Updated May 24, 2026 · 2142 articles
Insights
Research, news and field guides on institutional positioning. Powered by real SEC filings — 13F, 13D/G, Form 4.
Network Effects: The Moat That Widens With Scale
A network effect makes a product more valuable as more people use it, the rare moat that strengthens with scale instead of eroding. Learn how it powers payment networks, marketplaces and platforms, why two-sided networks are hardest to dislodge, and how it shapes quality portfolios.
Sarah MitchellOperating Leverage: Why Profits Swing More Than Sales
Operating leverage explains why a company's profits can jump 30% on 10% more revenue, or collapse far faster in a downturn. Learn how fixed costs act as a profit multiplier in both directions, why software soars and airlines suffer, and how it shapes the risk in a 13F's holdings.
Sarah MitchellThe Math of Drawdowns: Why Avoiding Losses Matters Most
A 50% loss needs a 100% gain just to break even, and the math only gets crueler from there. Learn why this asymmetry makes capital preservation central to compounding, how avoiding deep drawdowns protects the long-term runway, and how the discipline shows up in a 13F.
Sarah MitchellCountry Risk and Home Bias: Where a Stock Lives Matters
A company's home country shapes its risk through currency, rates, politics and the local economy, and investors quietly overweight their own. Learn country risk and home bias, and how to spot a 13F that is really a concentrated bet on a single nation rather than a diversified book.
Sarah MitchellActive Share: How Active Is a Fund Really?
Active share measures how much of a fund's portfolio differs from its benchmark, from 0% for a pure index-hugger to 100% for no overlap. Learn how it exposes closet indexers charging active fees, why it signals activity but not skill, and how to gauge it from a 13F.
Sarah MitchellCore-Satellite Investing: Index Core, Active Bets on Top
Core-satellite investing pairs a broad, low-cost index core with smaller active bets where conviction is highest. Learn how the approach works, how to spot it in a 13F that holds ETFs alongside individual stocks, and why the two layers must be read completely differently.
Sarah MitchellPinnacle Associates 13F (2026 Q1): Stocks and ETFs Side by Side
Pinnacle Associates' 2026 Q1 13F blends hand-picked megacaps, Johnson & Johnson, Apple, Nvidia, with broad-market index ETFs like SPY, VTI and a new Nasdaq-100 sleeve. A core-satellite book that shows where the firm bets actively and where it is content to own the market.
Marcus ChenCrawford Investment 13F (2026 Q1): An Income-and-Quality Book
Crawford Investment Counsel builds around high-quality companies that pay and grow reliable dividends. Its 2026 Q1 book spreads $5.85B across 300 income payers, with a utility-and-staples backbone, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, AEP, Philip Morris, and a new AstraZeneca stake.
Marcus ChenCardinal Capital 13F (2026 Q1): A Canadian Blue-Chip Book
Cardinal Capital's 2026 Q1 13F reads like the Toronto exchange: a concentrated 66-stock book anchored by Suncor, the big Canadian banks, pipelines and life insurers. A dividend-rich bet on Canada's resource and financial economy, headlined by a doubling of its Sun Life position.
Marcus ChenAuxier 13F (2026 Q1): A Capital-Preservation Value Book
Jeff Auxier runs money to protect capital first and let returns follow. His 2026 Q1 book spreads $696M across 176 mostly defensive names, Philip Morris, Kroger, Walmart, Microsoft, J&J, with only light trims, the texture of a downside-aware, capital-preservation strategy.
Marcus ChenCapital-Light vs Capital-Intensive: Why It Shapes Returns
Some businesses generate revenue with little investment in physical assets; others must keep pouring cash into factories and equipment just to compete. Learn why capital-light franchises are prized for free cash flow, why intensity isn't destiny, and how the split shapes quality portfolios.
Sarah MitchellGross Margin: An Early Read on Business Quality
Gross margin, what a company keeps after the direct cost of its goods, is often the first quantitative fingerprint of a competitive advantage. Learn why high margins signal pricing power, why the trend matters as much as the level, and how it shapes quality portfolios.
Sarah MitchellBook Value and Price-to-Book: The Balance-Sheet Yardstick
Book value, assets minus liabilities, was once value investing's starting point, and price-to-book its key ratio. Learn why it still anchors bank and insurer valuations, why intangible-rich businesses broke it, and how to tell when a low price-to-book is a clue or a trap.
Sarah MitchellConcentration Risk: When One Position Is Too Big
Concentration turns conviction into outsized returns, or outsized losses. Learn the unforgiving math of position sizing, why a 25% holding that halves can define a year, why concentration amplifies risk most when paired with uncertainty, and how to read it directly in a 13F.
Sarah MitchellPrivate Credit Explained: The Lending Boom Outside the Banks
Private credit, lending by asset managers instead of banks, has grown into a multi-trillion-dollar market since the financial crisis. Learn how it works, why quality investors own the fee-earning platforms like Apollo and Blackstone, and the risks hidden beneath the growth story.
Sarah MitchellDividend Payout Ratio: How to Judge if a Dividend Is Safe
A dividend yield is a promise, not a guarantee. Learn how the payout ratio, the share of earnings or free cash flow paid out, reveals whether a dividend is safe, why a fragile 8% is worth less than a dependable 3%, and how high-dividend value managers screen for durability.
Sarah MitchellBeck Mack & Oliver 13F (2026 Q1): A Bet on Private Capital
Beck Mack & Oliver, a New York firm dating to the 1930s, leans into a modern theme in 2026 Q1: the rise of the alternative-asset managers. Its book is led by Apollo and Blackstone, with Schwab and Gallagher alongside, a quality-financials tilt toward private-market finance.
Marcus ChenBroad Run 13F (2026 Q1): A 24-Stock Book, One 21% Bet
Broad Run takes concentration literally: 24 positions, with AST SpaceMobile alone at 21% of the book. Its 2026 Q1 filing pairs that outsized, speculative bet with a core of quality compounders, Applied Materials, Brookfield, Markel, O'Reilly, conviction expressed without a safety net.
Marcus ChenCullen Capital 13F (2026 Q1): A High-Dividend Value Book
Cullen invests in value through the dividend lens, favoring large, cash-returning businesses that pay above-market yields at modest valuations. Its 2026 Q1 book spreads $9.75B across 213 dividend payers, pharma, banks, utilities and energy, with nothing above 3.2%.
Marcus ChenFenimore (FAM) 13F (2026 Q1): A Quality-Compounder Book
Fenimore's FAM Funds buy well-run, durable businesses and hold them for years. Its 2026 Q1 book spreads $4.48B across 92 quality compounders, Ross Stores, Amphenol, Stryker, Fastenal, Markel, with only light trims, the texture of a patient, low-turnover strategy.
Marcus Chen