Sequoia Fund Q4 2025: Trimming Megacaps, Holding Quality

Few funds carry the history of the Sequoia Fund, run by Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb — the firm Bill Ruane founded on Warren Buffett's recommendation, and one of the original templates for concentrated quality investing. Its latest 13F stays true to that heritage: a tight book of 48 names, anchored by a handful of high-quality compounders, with the quarter's activity limited to trimming a few of the largest positions. The reported value rose 6.1% to $6.40 billion, but the more telling detail is what Ruane Cunniff chose to lighten.

The firm trimmed its two Alphabet share classes, Charles Schwab, and Taiwan Semiconductor while leaving its distinctive quality core untouched. For a manager whose entire philosophy is owning a few outstanding businesses for the long term, those measured trims of appreciated names read as disciplined risk management, not a change of conviction.

Trimming the winners

Alphabet remains the largest holding at $680.7 million (10.63%), though it was trimmed 8%, with its second share class cut 9%. Charles Schwab ($559.0 million) was reduced 11%, and Taiwan Semiconductor saw the deepest cut at 24% to $432.0 million.

These are reductions of names that have run, the kind of profit-taking a concentrated manager does to keep position sizes in check. None were exits — Alphabet is still by far the largest holding, and TSMC remains a top-eight position. The pattern is consistent with a low-turnover manager trimming at the margins rather than reshaping the book.

A distinctive quality core, held still

What Ruane Cunniff did not touch is more revealing. Liberty Media Formula One ($540.9 million, 8.45%), Capital One ($501.2 million), Elevance Health ($498.7 million), and Intercontinental Exchange ($437.9 million) were all held flat — the conviction core of the portfolio.

This is a hallmark Sequoia roster: businesses with durable competitive advantages and long reinvestment runways, several of them off the beaten path. Liberty Formula One — the holding company for the F1 racing franchise — is the kind of unique, hard-to-replicate asset the firm favors, and a name few other large institutions hold at this weight. The top five holdings make up roughly 43% of the book, concentrated by design. Holding these flat while trimming the megacaps is the clearest statement of where the firm's long-term conviction sits.

A stable book

Ruane Cunniff's reported value has been steady, consistent with its low-turnover style.

The reported 13F value has held between roughly $5.5 billion and $6.44 billion over the past two years, ending the latest quarter at $6.40 billion with the position count essentially flat at 48. There are no dramatic swings or holdings-count shifts — the signature of a manager that assembles a concentrated book of quality businesses and then largely leaves it alone, adjusting only at the edges as valuations move.

What it signals

For investors who track institutional positioning, Ruane Cunniff's latest filing is a clean example of disciplined concentrated quality. The signal is in the contrast: trim the appreciated megacaps (Alphabet, Schwab, TSMC), but leave the distinctive quality core — Formula One, Capital One, Elevance, ICE — untouched. The actionable read is that the firm's deepest conviction lies not in the crowded megacaps it pared, but in the differentiated, moat-protected businesses it refused to sell.

FAQ

What did Ruane Cunniff change in its latest filing?
It trimmed Alphabet (8%), Charles Schwab (11%), and Taiwan Semiconductor (24%) while holding its core quality positions — Liberty Formula One, Capital One, Elevance, and Intercontinental Exchange — flat. Reported value rose 6.1% to $6.40 billion.

What is Ruane Cunniff's largest holding?
Alphabet, at $680.7 million or 10.63% of the book, despite an 8% trim. The Sequoia Fund manager keeps a concentrated 48-position book with the top five accounting for roughly 43%.

Why does Ruane Cunniff hold Liberty Formula One?
Liberty Media's Formula One holding company is a unique, hard-to-replicate asset with durable competitive advantages — exactly the kind of differentiated quality business the Sequoia Fund favors and few other large institutions hold at this weight.

Is Ruane Cunniff a high-turnover fund?
No. It runs a concentrated, low-turnover book of quality businesses, adjusting only at the margins. The latest quarter's activity was limited to trimming a few appreciated names while the conviction core was held flat.