Investment management company Vulcan Value Partners recently released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. All the strategies of Vulcan Value Partners delivered positive results in the year. The Large Cap Composite (Net) returned -1.5% in Q4 and 7.9% YTD, the Small Cap Composite (Net) gained 3.2% in Q4 and 9.5% YTD, The Focus Composite (Net) retuned 0.1% in Q4 and 7.1% YTD, Focus Plus Composite (Net) returned 0.1% in Q4 and 6.2% YTD and the All-Cap Composite (Net) returned 1.3% in Q4 and 10.7% YTD. Despite overvalued markets, the firm improved its price-to-value ratios while still achieving positive returns, prioritizing safety and long-term gains over short-term performance. This situation echoes the late 1990s dot-com bubble, where hype and high valuations led to a crash, and today’s AI disruptions seem to mirror that pattern, with investors risking overpaying for promising businesses. The firm is addressing such situations by sticking to its investment discipline. For more information on the firm’s best picks in 2025, please check its top five holdings. In addition, please check the firm’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Vulcan Value Partners highlighted stocks like Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN). Vulcan Value Partners added Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) to its Large Cap, All Cap, Focus, and Focus Plus strategies during the quarter. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) is a specialty products and solutions provider for insurance brokers, agents, and carriers. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) shares traded between $48.90 and $77.16 over the past 52 weeks. On January 22, 2026, Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) stock closed at $50.40 per share. One-month return of Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) was -2.80%, and its shares lost 5.12% of their value over the last three months. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) has a market capitalization of $13.328 billion.
Vulcan Value Partners stated the following regarding Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) is a commercial excess and surplus insurance broker with a delegated authority business. The company was founded by Pat Ryan in 2010. Pat Ryan is one of the insurance industry’s crucial pioneers, having also founded Aon where he served as the CEO and Chairman for 41 years. Roughly 55% of Ryan Specialty’s revenue is generated from brokerage and 45% is generated from its delegated authority businesses which include underwriting management and binding authority. The excess and surplus brokerage market is dominated by three large players: Amwins Group, Ryan Specialty, and CRC Group and represents 26% of commercial property and casualty premiums today. Over the last 25 years, the excess and surplus market has grown at an 11% CAGR while the admitted market has grown at a 4% CAGR. We believe that the excess and surplus market will continue to outgrow the admitted market. Ryan Specialty’s delegated authority business writes policies on behalf of insurance carriers which means they do not retain any balance sheet risk. The company has grown organically at a double-digit rate for each of the past 15 years. Ryan Specialty’s margins are stable and free cash flow is robust. The portion of Ryan Specialty’s business exposed to commercial property is entering a soft pricing cycle. We believe this is a short-term phenomenon, not a long-term negative structural issue. This pricing headwind has caused underlying industry growth to slow. Ryan Specialty’s stock price has been negatively impacted by this overall negative industry sentiment. This price volatility has pushed the stock well below what we believe to be their long-term intrinsic value therefore giving us this opportunity to add this wonderful business to the portfolio.”
Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 26 hedge fund portfolios held Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) at the end of the third quarter, up from 19 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) and shared the list of best depressed stocks to buy. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 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.
