Akre Deployed $2.65B Into 8 New Positions After Pruning to Just 11 Holdings: Inside the Compounding Machine Reload of Q4 2025

Akre Capital Management filed its Q4 2025 13F on February 13, 2026, and the numbers demand a double-take: the fund went from 11 holdings and $7.25 billion in Q3 to 18 holdings and $9.12 billion in Q4 — deploying approximately $2.65 billion into 8 new positions in a single quarter. For a firm that built its reputation on patience, low turnover, and owning “compounding machines” for decades, this is the most aggressive portfolio reconstruction in recent memory.

TL;DR

• AUM: $9.12B (up 25.7% QoQ from $7.25B in Q3 2025)
• Holdings: 18 positions (up from just 11 in Q3 — 8 new, 1 exit)
• New capital deployed: ~$2.65B across 8 new positions
• Largest new position: Moody’s (MCO) at $886M (9.7% of portfolio)
• Other major additions: Roper Technologies (ROP) $492M, Airbnb (ABNB) $471M, Fair Isaac (FICO) $469M, Copart (CPRT) $308M
• Biggest share increase: CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCC) +52.6%, Brookfield Corp (BN) +39.7%
• Top-5 concentration: 63.6% (MA, BN, KKR, V, MCO)
• ETF conversion: Completed October 2025 — one of the largest mutual fund-to-ETF conversions in history
• Filing date: February 13, 2026 | Report date: December 31, 2025

Filing Snapshot

Metric	Q3 2025	Q4 2025	Change
13F AUM	$7.25B	$9.12B	+25.7%
Holdings count	11	18	+7 (net)
New positions	—	8	—
Complete exits	—	1 (VRSK)	—
Top-1 weight	MA at 24.7%	MA at 18.8%	-5.9pp
Top-5 weight	85.3%	63.6%	-21.7pp

The Q3 Pruning and Q4 Reload

To understand what happened in Q4, you have to rewind to Q3. Akre Capital entered 2025 with 18 holdings worth $10.4 billion. By the end of Q3, they had slashed the portfolio to just 11 positions and $7.25 billion — a 30% AUM decline and the leanest the portfolio has been in over a decade.

Then came Q4. The fund deployed approximately $2.65 billion into 8 new positions, rebuilding the portfolio back to 18 names. This wasn’t panic buying or bottom-fishing. Every single new position fits Akre’s “three-legged stool” framework: extraordinary business, talented management, and great reinvestment opportunities. The consistency is almost eerie.

The New Compounding Machines

Moody’s (MCO): $886M — 9.7% of Portfolio

The headline addition. Moody’s is a near-perfect Akre stock: duopoly position in credit ratings (with S&P Global), recurring revenue from surveillance fees, 45%+ operating margins, and a massive reinvestment runway through analytics and data services. At $886 million, this is a Day 1 conviction position — it entered the portfolio as the fifth-largest holding. This is notable because Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund also holds MCO as a core position in its ultra-concentrated $53.6B portfolio.

Roper Technologies (ROP): $492M — 5.4%

Roper is a diversified industrial company that has pivoted toward vertical-market software businesses with sticky, subscription-based revenues. Returns on invested capital consistently exceed 15%. The asset-light software transition is exactly the kind of compounding story Akre hunts for.

Airbnb (ABNB): $471M — 5.2%

Airbnb is the platform marketplace play. Asset-light by design, with powerful network effects and improving unit economics. Q4 2025 was Airbnb’s strongest growth quarter in over two years — $20.4B in gross booking value (+16% YoY) and $2.8B in revenue (+12% YoY) with a 38% trailing free cash flow margin. For Akre, this checks all three legs: dominant marketplace position, Brian Chesky’s product-obsessed leadership, and massive reinvestment potential in new categories and global expansion.

Fair Isaac / FICO (FICO): $469M — 5.1%

FICO is as close to a monopoly as you can find in financial infrastructure. The FICO Score is used in over 90% of U.S. lending decisions. Revenue grew 16.4% YoY in Q4 CY2025 to $512M, with 45.7% operating margins. The company has demonstrated extraordinary pricing power — it has raised the price of its scores multiple times without meaningful pushback. EPS has compounded at 24% annually over 5 years.

Copart (CPRT): $308M — 3.4%

Copart runs the dominant online vehicle auction platform. It’s an asset-light marketplace with strong network effects: more cars attract more bidders, which attract more sellers. The real moat is the land bank — Copart owns its auction yards, creating an enormous barrier to entry. This is a classic compounder that Akre has owned in prior periods.

Existing Position Changes: Trimming the Core, Amplifying Conviction

While the new positions grab headlines, the changes to existing holdings tell an equally important story.

Shares Increased

Stock	Q3 Shares	Q4 Shares	Change	Q4 Value
Brookfield Corp (BN)	19,215,941	26,843,633	+39.7%	$1,231.9M
CCC Intelligent (CCC)	16,270,128	24,836,984	+52.6%	$197.5M
CoStar Group (CSGP)	9,306,485	9,617,805	+3.3%	$646.7M

Brookfield is notable: Akre added 7.6 million shares (+39.7%), bringing the position to $1.23 billion and 13.5% of the portfolio. Brookfield Corp is the asset-management spinoff from Brookfield Asset Management, with over $1 trillion in AUM and a massive pipeline of infrastructure, renewable energy, and private equity investments. The aggressive accumulation suggests Akre sees significant undervaluation in Brookfield’s sum-of-parts.

CCC Intelligent Solutions got an even bigger proportional boost at +52.6%. CCC provides AI-driven software for the insurance and automotive industries — cloud-based, high switching costs, and growing adoption. At $197M it’s still a smaller position, but the share-count increase signals growing conviction.

Shares Decreased

Stock	Q3 Shares	Q4 Shares	Change	Q4 Value
O’Reilly Auto (ORLY)	8,612,428	6,719,819	-22.0%	$612.9M
American Tower (AMT)	442,843	255,267	-42.4%	$44.8M
Visa (V)	2,973,760	2,676,628	-10.0%	$938.7M
KKR & Co (KKR)	8,713,264	8,106,049	-7.0%	$1,033.4M
Mastercard (MA)	3,155,594	3,005,280	-4.8%	$1,715.7M

The trims are measured, not panicked. O’Reilly Automotive saw the largest reduction at -22%, likely funding the new positions. American Tower was cut by 42% and is now just 0.5% of the portfolio — this looks like a slow exit in progress. Mastercard, Visa, and KKR were trimmed modestly (5-10%), consistent with rebalancing after strong price appreciation rather than thesis changes. All three remain top-5 positions.

The ETF Conversion: A Structural Catalyst

Context matters here. On October 27, 2025, Akre completed one of the largest single mutual fund-to-ETF conversions in history, converting the Akre Focus Fund to the Akre Focus ETF (ticker: AKRE, now trading on NYSE Arca). The ETF had approximately $8.5 billion in net assets as of January 2026.

This conversion has several implications for the Q4 filing:

• Tax efficiency: ETF structure allows in-kind redemptions, eliminating capital gains distributions that plagued the mutual fund
• Transparency: Daily portfolio disclosure (ETFs publish holdings daily vs. quarterly for mutual funds)
• Cost reduction: Lower operating costs passed through to shareholders
• Inflow potential: ETF format opens the fund to a much wider investor base, potentially reversing the AUM decline

The timing of the portfolio expansion — immediately following the ETF conversion — may not be coincidental. With the structural changes complete, the team appears to be positioning the portfolio for a new chapter.

The AUM Story: From $17.9B to $7.25B to a Rebuild

Akre’s AUM trajectory tells a sobering story. The fund peaked at $17.9 billion in Q4 2021 with 24 holdings. Since then, it has experienced a steady decline: $11.1B by Q4 2022, $11.9B by Q4 2023, $11.6B by Q4 2024, and then the sharp drop to $7.25B in Q3 2025. The fund has essentially lost half its peak AUM over four years.

The reasons are multiple: underperformance versus the S&P 500 (the fund returned 1.23% in 2025 vs. 17.88% for the S&P 500), concentrated position volatility, and the structural pressures of mutual fund outflows. The ETF conversion addresses the last factor directly. Whether the Q4 reload marks a performance inflection remains to be seen.

Concentration Analysis

Despite adding 8 positions, Akre remains one of the most concentrated institutional portfolios in the market. The top 10 holdings account for 93.1% of the $9.12 billion portfolio. However, concentration actually decreased meaningfully QoQ:

Metric	Q3 2025	Q4 2025	Change
Top-1 weight (MA)	24.7%	18.8%	-5.9pp
Top-5 weight	85.3%	63.6%	-21.7pp
Holdings count	11	18	+7

The de-concentration is significant. Moving from 85.3% in the top 5 to 63.6% is a 21.7 percentage point reduction — the largest single-quarter diversification move the fund has made. This suggests the team is intentionally spreading risk while maintaining their “compounding machine” discipline.

What Analysts Might Misread

1. “Akre is abandoning its concentration strategy”

Wrong. Going from 11 to 18 holdings looks like dilution, but every new position is a quintessential Akre stock — asset-light, high ROIC, durable moat. The top 10 still account for 93% of the portfolio. This is not diversification for safety; it’s widening the aperture of conviction.

2. “The AUM decline signals a failing fund”

The $17.9B to $9.1B decline is real, but the narrative is incomplete. Much of the AUM loss came from mutual fund outflows during a period when investors rotated into passive and ETF vehicles. The ETF conversion directly addresses this structural drain. Watch inflow data for AKRE in Q1 2026 for the real signal.

3. “Trimming MA and V means bearish on payments”

Mastercard and Visa remain the #1 and #4 positions at $1.72B and $939M respectively. The 5-10% trims are textbook rebalancing after appreciation, not thesis exits. Combined, payments infrastructure still represents 29.1% of the portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Akre go from 11 holdings in Q3 to 18 in Q4?

Akre pruned the portfolio aggressively in Q3 2025, likely in preparation for the ETF conversion completed in October. In Q4, they redeployed capital into 8 new positions that fit their “three-legged stool” framework, rebuilding the portfolio for the ETF era.

What is Akre’s “three-legged stool” investment approach?

Founded by Chuck Akre, the framework requires all three legs: (1) an extraordinary business with sustainable competitive advantages, (2) talented, shareholder-aligned management, and (3) extensive opportunities to reinvest free cash flow at high rates. If any leg breaks, they sell.

What is the Akre Focus ETF and when did it convert?

The Akre Focus ETF (ticker: AKRE) trades on NYSE Arca. It converted from the Akre Focus Fund mutual fund on October 27, 2025, in one of the industry’s largest single fund conversions. It maintains the same investment team and approach.

How concentrated is Akre’s portfolio compared to other funds?

Extremely concentrated. With 18 holdings and the top 10 accounting for 93.1% of the portfolio, Akre is more concentrated than virtually all institutional managers of similar size. For comparison, most large hedge funds hold 30-100+ positions.

Has Akre underperformed the S&P 500 recently?

Yes. The Akre Focus ETF returned 1.23% in 2025 versus 17.88% for the S&P 500. However, since inception in August 2009, the fund has returned 14.47% annualized, roughly matching the S&P 500 over that period. The recent underperformance reflects the headwind of not owning mega-cap tech (no AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, GOOGL, or AMZN).

Why does Akre own both Mastercard and Visa?

Both are duopoly payment networks with asset-light business models, high margins, and secular tailwinds from the global shift to digital payments. Akre views them as separate compounding machines that benefit from different growth vectors — Mastercard’s value-added services and Visa’s global network scale.