Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Declining interest rates and investors’ increasing confidence that there won’t be a hard-landing economic recession were both influenced by moderating inflation and improving labor market conditions. This bullish outlook fueled investor risk-taking and a robust equities market surge throughout the quarter. Against this backdrop, the fund gained 12.45% (Institutional Shares) in the fourth quarter underperforming the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 14.55% return. Headwinds from the Fund’s style biases, particularly its underexposure to equities with elevated beta and residual volatility, as well as the impact of stock selection, contributed to its relative underperformance. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Asset Fund featured stocks such as Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) in the Q4 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) is a mountain resorts and ski areas operator. On January 24, 2024, Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) stock closed at $224.51 per share. One-month return of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) was 2.88%, and its shares lost 12.52% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) has a market capitalization of $8.525 billion.
Baron Asset Fund stated the following regarding Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Several holdings in Consumer Discretionary, Industrials, and Financials were generally responsible for the relative shortfall during the quarter. Weakness in Consumer Discretionary was driven by declines from global ski resort company Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) and hotel franchisor Choice Hotels International, Inc. Vail’s stock underperformed on concerns that limited snowfall would impact its results for the ski season, but we are optimistic that Vail’s strong sales of season ski passes will offset this effect.”
An aerial view of a mountain resort, its snow-capped peaks and lush ski slopes revealed in all their glory.
Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 21 hedge fund portfolios held Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) at the end of third quarter which was 31 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) in another article and shared Baron Funds’ views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
