Fayez Sarofim Q1 2026: A $39B Book That Barely Moves

Most 13F filings are interesting for what changed. Fayez Sarofim & Co's first-quarter 2026 filing is interesting for what didn't. The Houston firm — built on the late Fayez Sarofim's conviction that the right move with a great business is to buy it and then do nothing — reported 294 positions worth $39.08 billion, and nearly every one of its largest holdings sat exactly where it had been a quarter earlier. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Philip Morris, Amazon, Exxon, Chevron, and Coca-Cola were all held roughly flat. The single notable adjustment was a 9% increase in Nvidia shares.

The headline number — a 6.2% decline in reported value, from $41.66 billion to $39.08 billion — is almost entirely a function of price, not selling. That is the tell a casual reader misses: a falling 13F total usually implies trimming, but here it reflects a portfolio that simply rode the quarter's mark-to-market while its manager kept his hands off the wheel. In an era of frantic repositioning, Sarofim's stillness is itself the signal.

A portfolio defined by what it doesn't do

The book is anchored by Apple at $3.52 billion, or 9.01% of assets, followed by Microsoft at $2.85 billion (7.29%) and Alphabet at $2.23 billion (5.72%). What unites the top of the list is the change column: "held roughly flat," repeated down the page. This is not a manager who failed to find anything to do — it is one whose entire philosophy is that activity is the enemy of compounding.

The lone exception is instructive. Nvidia, at $1.71 billion (4.38%), saw shares rise 9% — the only meaningful add among the top holdings. For a firm this reluctant to trade, a deliberate increase in a single name carries more weight than a dozen position changes would at a high-turnover shop. Everything else — Apple, Microsoft, Amazon — was left to compound untouched.

Concentration with an old-economy spine

Sarofim runs more concentrated than most managers its size. The top ten holdings account for roughly 48% of the portfolio, with the remaining 51.89% spread across a long tail. But the composition is what sets it apart from a typical large-cap growth book: alongside the megacap-tech names sits a deliberate old-economy spine.

Philip Morris International is the fourth-largest holding at 4.56% — a tobacco position most growth managers wouldn't touch. Energy is a real allocation, with Exxon Mobil (3.49%) and Chevron (3.27%) together near 6.8% of the book, and Coca-Cola rounds out the top ten at 2.95%. This is the Sarofim signature: durable, cash-generative franchises with decades-long dividend records, held next to the technology compounders, on the theory that quality plus patience beats prediction. The full position list lives on the Fayez Sarofim filer page.

Reading the AUM history honestly

The firm's reported 13F value across recent quarters comes with a caveat that rewards careful reading rather than a quick glance at the trend line.

The chart shows reported assets near $41.15 billion at the end of 2024, then apparently collapsing to $15.36 billion, $16.26 billion, and $17.53 billion across the first three quarters of 2025, before snapping back to $41.66 billion at year-end and $39.08 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Those mid-2025 readings are not a real evaporation of assets — the position count fell from the high 500s to roughly 261 over the same window and then was restored, the signature of incomplete or amended 13F filings rather than wholesale liquidation. The honest read of the history is a portfolio that has been remarkably stable in the low-$40 billion range, briefly understated by partial filings. It is a useful reminder that 13F totals are only as clean as the filings behind them.

What it signals

For investors who track institutional behavior to find conviction, Sarofim offers a different lesson than the typical hedge-fund 13F. There is no rotation to decode, no fresh thesis to reverse-engineer — the conviction is in the refusal to act. When a manager holds Apple, Microsoft, Philip Morris, and Exxon flat through a volatile quarter and adds only to Nvidia, the message is that the existing book already reflects his best thinking. The actionable read is the portfolio's structure itself: a concentrated, low-turnover blend of megacap technology and dividend-rich old-economy names, run by a firm that treats patience as a strategy rather than a default. The next quarterly filing will be worth checking less for what moves than for whether anything does.

FAQ

What did Fayez Sarofim change in Q1 2026?
Very little. Nearly all top holdings — Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Philip Morris, Amazon, Exxon, Chevron, and Coca-Cola — were held roughly flat. The one notable move was a 9% increase in Nvidia shares. Reported 13F value eased 6.2% to $39.08 billion, mostly on price.

What are Fayez Sarofim's largest holdings?
Apple ($3.52 billion, 9.01%), Microsoft ($2.85 billion, 7.29%), and Alphabet ($2.23 billion, 5.72%) lead, followed by Philip Morris, Nvidia, Amazon, Exxon, Chevron, Meta, and Coca-Cola. The top ten are about 48% of the portfolio.

Why did Sarofim's reported assets swing so much in 2025?
The mid-2025 dip to roughly $15-17 billion reflects incomplete or amended 13F filings — the position count fell to about 261 and was later restored — not an actual liquidation. The portfolio has been stable in the low-$40 billion range.

What is Fayez Sarofim's investment style?
Concentrated, low-turnover ownership of high-quality blue-chip franchises — megacap technology alongside dividend-rich old-economy names like Philip Morris, Exxon, and Coca-Cola — held for the long term with minimal trading.