Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund declined 13.4% (Institutional Shares) in the first quarter compared to a 10.0% decline for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and a 4.3% decrease for the S&P 500 Index. The Fund focuses on investing in Big Ideas, which often trade and can be considered long-duration assets. As a result, the portfolio frequently experiences significant stock price fluctuations, particularly in the short term and during periods of extreme market volatility, while the intrinsic values of businesses remain much more stable. Nevertheless, Q1 was a challenging first quarter. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund highlighted stocks such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM). Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) manufactures, packages, tests, and sells integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices. The one-month return of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was 9.13%, and its shares gained 24.85% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On June 20, 2025, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) stock closed at $209.51 per share, with a market capitalization of $1.087 trillion.
Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Fund stated the following regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“We also added to the following existing positions. The leading semiconductor manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) – We believe it will continue to benefit from the company’s long duration of growth ahead as a critical enabler of semiconductors for AI.”

A close-up of a complex network of integrated circuits used in logic semiconductors.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is in 9th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 187 hedge fund portfolios held Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) at the end of the first quarter, which was 186 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
In another article, we covered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) and shared Ariel Global Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors. While we acknowledge the potential of TSM as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.