Armitage Sold Every Share of META and Built a $1.36B Amazon Position in Its Place: Inside Egerton’s Q4 2025 Portfolio Reconstruction

John Armitage sold every share of Meta Platforms and built a $1.36 billion Amazon position in its place. Egerton Capital’s Q4 2025 13F filing reveals the most dramatic portfolio reconstruction the London-based fund has executed in years: 9 positions exited, 10 new ones opened, and AUM surging 64% from $5.60 billion to $9.20 billion. When the dust settled, more than half the portfolio was entirely new — and Amazon sat at the top at 14.8%, a stock Armitage hadn’t owned three months earlier.

TL;DR: Egerton’s Q4 2025 Filing at a Glance

• AUM: $9.20B (up from $5.60B in Q3 — +64%)
• Holdings: 23 positions (up from 17 in Q3)
• #1 Position: Amazon (AMZN) at $1.36B (14.8%) — entirely new
• #2 Position: Visa (V) at $1.15B (12.5%) — increased +41%
• META Exit: Sold all 541K shares ($397M in Q3) — complete exit
• Progressive Exit: Sold all shares — was a top holding in prior quarters
• 9 Positions Exited: META, Progressive, Arch Capital, Flutter, ICE, CP, TransUnion, First Citizens, Aramark
• 10 New Positions: AMZN, MSFT, MCO, GOOG, VMC, WYNN, UBER, RNR, NYT, LPLA
• Financial Infrastructure: ~22% of portfolio in CME, IBKR, COF, MA, MCO, LPLA

The META-to-Amazon Swap

The signature trade of Egerton’s Q4 is a direct philosophical statement. In Q3, Meta Platforms was the sixth-largest position at $397 million (7.1% of the portfolio). By Q4, it was gone — every share sold. In its place, Amazon appeared as a brand-new $1.36 billion position, consuming 14.8% of the portfolio and claiming the #1 spot.

This isn’t portfolio shuffling. It’s a statement about where Armitage sees durable value. Amazon offers AWS (the cloud infrastructure layer for AI), e-commerce logistics that competitors cannot replicate, and an advertising business growing 20%+ annually. Meta offers social advertising and a Reality Labs division burning billions annually on a VR/metaverse bet that has yet to produce returns. Armitage is choosing infrastructure over attention.

The Complete Tear-Down: 9 Exits

Egerton exited nine positions in Q4 — more than half the Q3 portfolio. The exits weren’t small trims; they were complete liquidations:

Stock	Q3 Value	Q3 Weight	Category
Progressive (PGR)	$639M*	Top holding	Insurance
Meta Platforms (META)	$397M	7.1%	Social media
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT)	$359M	6.4%	Online gambling
Arch Capital (ACGL)	$318M	5.7%	Specialty insurance
ICE	$175M	3.1%	Exchange operator
Canadian Pacific (CP)	$151M	2.7%	Railroad
Aramark (ARMK)	$123M	2.2%	Food services
TransUnion (TRU)	$123M	2.2%	Credit bureau
First Citizens (FCNCA)	$85M	1.5%	Regional bank

*Progressive was a top holding in Q2 2025 ($639M) but may have been partially reduced before Q3 reporting.

The pattern is clear: Armitage dumped insurance (Progressive, Arch Capital), entertainment/gaming (Flutter, Meta), and North American infrastructure (CP, ICE). What replaced them is US-centric technology and financial infrastructure.

10 New Positions: The Rebuild

Egerton added 10 entirely new stocks in Q4, deploying approximately $3.7 billion in new capital:

• Amazon (AMZN): $1,360M (14.8%) — Cloud + e-commerce + advertising trifecta
• Microsoft (MSFT): $846M (9.2%) — Azure AI, Copilot, enterprise software
• Moody’s (MCO): $395M (4.3%) — Credit ratings monopoly, data analytics
• Alphabet (GOOG): $339M (3.7%) — Search, YouTube, Cloud
• Vulcan Materials (VMC): $274M (3.0%) — Aggregates monopoly, infrastructure spending
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN): $249M (2.7%) — Macau recovery, Las Vegas REVPAR
• Uber (UBER): $219M (2.4%) — Mobility + delivery platform
• RenaissanceRe (RNR): $138M (1.5%) — Specialty reinsurance
• New York Times (NYT): $98M (1.1%) — Digital subscription compounder
• LPL Financial (LPLA): $91M (1.0%) — Independent advisor platform

The Financial Infrastructure Theme

Approximately 22% of Egerton’s Q4 portfolio sits in financial infrastructure — companies that operate the plumbing of global finance without taking balance sheet risk:

• Visa (V): $1,147M (12.5%) — Payment network
• Capital One (COF): $502M (5.5%) — Consumer lending + tech-forward bank
• Interactive Brokers (IBKR): $446M (4.9%) — Electronic brokerage platform
• Moody’s (MCO): $395M (4.3%) — Credit ratings
• CME Group (CME): $322M (3.5%) — Derivatives exchange
• Mastercard (MA): $262M (2.8%) — Payment network
• LPL Financial (LPLA): $91M (1.0%) — Advisor platform

This cluster suggests Armitage believes financial infrastructure offers tech-like margins with regulated-utility-like moats. Visa and Mastercard process trillions in transactions; CME and IBKR operate essential market infrastructure; Moody’s has an oligopoly on credit ratings.

From UK/Canada to Pure US Growth

The geographic pivot is striking. In Q3, Egerton held CRH (Irish building materials), Canadian Pacific (Canadian railroad), Flutter (Irish gambling), and significant UK exposure through its non-13F positions. By Q4, CRH was halved ($511M → $282M), CP was gone, and Flutter was gone. The new positions — Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Uber, Vulcan Materials, Moody’s — are all pure US plays.

The one international conviction that grew: Embraer (EMBJ), the Brazilian aerospace company, increased 55% to $211 million. Embraer’s defense and commercial aviation backlog apparently earned its keep when everything else international was sold.

AUM Swing Pattern

Egerton’s AUM shows a distinctive pattern: $5.60B in Q3, then $9.20B in Q4 (+64%). This echoes a similar pattern from Q1 to Q2 2025 ($4.82B → $9.75B). The swings likely reflect confidential treatment filings, where large positions are temporarily withheld from the 13F and disclosed later, or timing differences between long and short book reporting. Egerton’s total fund AUM is approximately $16.5 billion, meaning the 13F represents roughly half the capital.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Egerton sell all of its Meta shares?

John Armitage replaced Meta with Amazon as his top position, suggesting he prefers Amazon’s AWS cloud infrastructure and e-commerce logistics over Meta’s social advertising and Reality Labs VR spending. The swap reflects a preference for asset-heavy infrastructure over attention-based platforms.

Why is Amazon 14.8% of Egerton’s portfolio?

At $1.36 billion, Amazon is Armitage’s highest-conviction bet. Egerton runs an ultra-concentrated 23-stock portfolio, so a 14.8% position is consistent with the fund’s style. Amazon’s combination of AWS, e-commerce, and advertising provides three growth vectors with different cycle exposures.

What happened to Egerton’s Progressive position?

Progressive (PGR) was one of Egerton’s largest holdings in prior quarters but was completely exited. The exit may reflect Armitage’s view that the auto insurance hard-pricing cycle is maturing, or simply that the capital was redeployed into higher-conviction opportunities like Amazon and Microsoft.

How concentrated is Egerton compared to other funds?

With just 23 positions and the top 5 holdings at 47.4%, Egerton is among the most concentrated major hedge funds. This is by design — Armitage has run Egerton with 20-35 positions since founding the fund in 1994. The concentration means each position is a high-conviction bet backed by deep fundamental research.

Why does Egerton’s AUM swing so dramatically between quarters?

The $5.60B to $9.20B swing likely reflects confidential treatment filings (where positions are temporarily withheld from public 13F disclosure) or timing of long/short book reporting. Egerton’s total fund is approximately $16.5 billion, and the 13F captures only the long US equity portion.