Baron International Growth Fund | Q3 2026

Summary

• The Baron International Growth Fund Institutional Shares declined 0.59% in the third quarter of 2026, trailing the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index which gained 0.48%.
• The MSCI ACWI ex USA IMI Growth Index declined 2.11% for the quarter while the Fund outperformed this proxy benchmark.
• Rising energy prices & a breakout in global bond yields favored value & commodity-oriented stocks over growth during the period.
• Adverse stock selection in Materials sectors, specifically holdings in Linde plc, Lynas Rare Earths Limited, & AMG Critical Materials N.V., was the largest detractor from relative performance.
• Poor stock selection in Industrials due to positions in OHB SE, Cummins India Limited, Ceres Power Holdings plc, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited, & INNIO N.V. also dragged on results.
• Solid stock selection in Health Care, including Agilent Technologies, Inc., Divi's Laboratories Limited, & Zai Lab Limited, contributed to relative performance.
• Strong stock selection in Financials from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., Japan Exchange Group, Inc., & Piraeus Bank S.A. bolstered results.
• Favorable allocation & stock selection in Information Technology, including Centum Electronics Limited, ISC Co., Ltd., Shopify Inc., HPSP Co., Ltd., & Palo Alto Networks, Inc., supported performance.
• Adverse stock selection in China, the U.K., Germany, & Japan detracted the most from relative performance on a country basis.
• Overweight positioning in the Netherlands & weak stock selection in Taiwan weighed on performance, while solid selection in France was the largest country contributor.
• Favorable allocation effects in Korea, the U.S., & Greece bolstered performance.
• Agilent Technologies, Inc. was the top contributor with a 0.45% contribution to return after fiscal third-quarter results beat expectations.
• Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. contributed 0.36% to return following a 48% year-over-year jump in fiscal first-quarter profit.
• Piraeus Bank S.A. contributed 0.31% to return driven by record first-half net profit & an index reclassification of Greece as a developed market.
• SK hynix Inc. was the top detractor with a (0.68)% contribution after second-quarter results missed forecasts despite revenue more than tripling year-over-year.
• Tokyo Electron Limited detracted 0.63% to return as chip-equipment stocks faced pressure amid doubts about AI spending durability.
• Montage Technology Co., Ltd. detracted 0.45% to return due to an investigation into suspected price coordination, despite revenue growth ahead of expectations.
• The Fund added Bachem Holding AG to its biotechnology/diagnostics theme & established a position in Shopify Inc. within its digitization theme.
• Top holdings in developed countries include argenx SE at 3.6% of net assets & BNP Paribas S.A. at 2.9%.
• Top holdings in emerging countries include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited at 6.1% of net assets & Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. at 2.4%.
• Fund investments in developed markets total 63.5% of net assets, with Japan at 14.7% & France at 12.1%.
• Fund investments in emerging markets total 33.7% of net assets, with India at 9.3% & Argentina at 10.9%.
• The net annual expense ratio for Retail Shares was 1.21% & for Institutional Shares was 0.96% as of April 30, 2026.