Champlain 13F (2026 Q1): Buying Quality Tech as Assets Shrink

Repositioning, even as assets shrink

Champlain Investment Partners, a Burlington, Vermont firm known for a quality-focused, downside-aware approach to small- and mid-cap investing, presents an unusually interesting 2026Q1 13F. On the surface, the headline is a sharp decline: reported value fell about 20% on the quarter and has dropped from roughly $16 billion two years ago to $7.9 billion, a sustained contraction that points to significant outflows. But underneath that shrinking asset base, the firm was not passively liquidating, it was actively repositioning, building meaningful new and larger positions in quality technology and software names. That combination, an asset base under pressure paired with decisive buying, is what makes this filing worth a closer look.

The book is extremely diffuse, with the largest position, Tradeweb, at just 2.19% and the top ten clustered below that, the even weighting characteristic of a risk-conscious small- and mid-cap manager. Below Tradeweb sit Penumbra, a new EOG Resources position, Synopsys, Nutanix, Fastenal, AAON, Veeva Systems, Akamai, and ESAB.

A clear tilt toward quality software

The share-count changes reveal genuine conviction rather than forced selling. Champlain increased Veeva Systems by a striking 81% of shares, Synopsys by 39%, Tradeweb by 21%, and Nutanix by 18%, and established a new position in EOG Resources, while trimming Penumbra by 18% and ESAB by 14%. The pattern is unmistakable: even as outflows forced the overall book smaller, the manager was leaning into high-quality software and technology, Veeva in life-sciences cloud, Synopsys in chip-design tools, Nutanix in enterprise infrastructure, Tradeweb in electronic trading. This is a deliberate rotation toward durable, high-margin growth businesses, not a fund simply raising cash.

Reading adds against a shrinking base

The distinction between flow-driven selling and conviction-driven buying is the key to reading this filing correctly. A naive glance at the falling asset total might suggest a manager in retreat. But the aggressive additions to specific quality names tell the opposite story at the position level: where Champlain had the capital and the conviction, it bought, and bought decisively. The shrinking total reflects redemptions the manager must accommodate; the share-count increases reflect where it is choosing to deploy what remains. Reading the two together, a contracting base but a sharpening tilt toward quality software, is far more informative than the headline decline alone.

How to read a quality SMID manager under pressure

Champlain's filing is a useful case study in separating what a manager must do from what it chooses to do. The outflows are real and worth noting, but the more revealing signal is the conviction expressed through the adds: a clear preference for quality software and technology within the small- and mid-cap universe. For investors who follow SMID specialists for ideas, the names Champlain is building, rather than the ones it is trimming to meet redemptions, are where its current thinking is most clearly on display. You can explore the full holdings, the position changes, and the longer history on the Champlain Investment Partners filer page.