Seth Klarman

Profil Smart Money

Seth Klarman

Baupost Group

Seth Klarman — Baupost Group
Baupost
Fonds principal
5,1 Md $
Valeur du portefeuille 13F
Deep Value · Marge de sécurité
Style d'investissement

Profil et philosophie d'investissement

Le Baupost Group de Seth Klarman a manifesté un appétit marqué pour la croissance au premier trimestre 2026, augmentant sa participation dans Amazon de près de 50 %. Klarman a également renforcé Wesco International et initié une nouvelle position dans Union Pacific. Son approche reste centrée sur la recherche d'une « marge de sécurité » dans les situations complexes, mais son orientation vers de plus grandes entreprises de plateforme reflète l'évolution des opportunités dans l'univers de la valeur profonde.

Track Record

Klarman co-founded Baupost Group in 1982 and has run it for over four decades. Long-term net returns have been reported around 18-20% annualized over the firm's history, with very limited losing years, while routinely carrying 20-50% cash. AUM grew from roughly $27 million at inception to over $30 billion at peak, making Baupost one of the largest value-oriented hedge funds in the world. His out-of-print book ‚Margin of Safety' regularly resells for thousands of dollars. He is a deeply private operator who almost never appears on financial TV and writes long, philosophical investor letters that circulate widely in the value community.

Trades emblématiques

Distressed energy, 2014-2016 oil crash
When WTI collapsed from $100 to under $30, Klarman moved aggressively into distressed E&P debt and equity, including positions like PBF Energy and stressed exploration credits. He used Baupost's cash pile as ammunition while levered peers were forced sellers. As oil recovered in 2016-2017, several of those positions returned multiples, classic Margin-of-Safety execution.
Lehman claims, post-2008
Baupost was among the largest buyers of Lehman bankruptcy claims, scooping them from impatient creditors at deep discounts to expected recoveries. The work was painstaking — legal complexity, multi-year horizon, illiquid claims — exactly the kind of edge Baupost is built for. Final recoveries vastly exceeded purchase prices, delivering high single-digit IRRs on capital most funds refused to tie up that long.
Puerto Rico GO bonds, mid-2010s
As Puerto Rico spiraled toward restructuring, Klarman built a large position in general-obligation bonds at distressed levels, betting on constitutional priority of repayment. The trade was politically toxic and took years, but the eventual 2022 restructuring delivered recoveries well above the prices Baupost paid, validating the legal-structural analysis.

Stratégie actuelle (2026)

Baupost's Q1 2026 13F covers only US-listed equities, a small slice of the firm's actual book, which is dominated by private credit, distressed claims and real estate. On the visible equity side, Klarman continues to favor event-driven and special-situation names, with notable disclosed positions in life-sciences-tools and ‚fallen angel' growth stocks bought after sharp drawdowns, plus selective post-bankruptcy reorgs. He has trimmed mega-cap tech exposure and added to spin-offs and merger arbs where capital structures are misunderstood. The firm continues to carry a high cash and hedge book. The macro stance is cautious: he has warned in letters about elevated valuations, fiscal deficits and complacency around AI capex returns, and is positioning to deploy if a credit cycle finally turns.

BMI

BMI Counter-Take

Klarman is the closest thing the industry has to a built-in counter-cyclical buffer. The high cash, the patience, the willingness to lock up capital in illiquid claims for five-plus years — almost no retail investor can or should fully replicate that. What is replicable is the mindset: refuse to feel pressured to be fully invested, define your edge in process not narrative, and keep dry powder for forced-seller moments. The risk in his current posture is opportunity cost — Baupost has under-earned a tape that just kept ripping. But if a real credit cycle turns, his structural cash and distressed expertise become an asymmetric weapon. Long-term, we side with the discipline.

Portefeuille actuel

DERNIER 13F 2026-03-31

Dernière déclaration SEC Form 13F. Valeur totale du portefeuille: 4,46 Md €. Positions: 22 positions.

TitreActionsΔ vs préc.Valeur (€)Portefeuille %
Amazon Com Inc.3,12 M+47.0%566 M €12,7 %
Restaurant Brands Intl Inc.8,08 M521 M €11,7 %
Wesco Intl Inc.1,44 M+1.3%343 M €7,69 %
Union Pac Corp.1,54 M-5.3%326 M €7,31 %
Elevance Health Inc. Formerly1,28 M+0.5%326 M €7,30 %
Alphabet Inc.1,18 M+8.6%295 M €6,62 %
Ferguson Enterprises Inc.1,44 M+26.9%293 M €6,58 %
Willis Towers Watson PLC Ltd.893.126-34.2%226 M €5,08 %
Aon PLC769.000★ NOUVELLE216 M €4,85 %
Visa Inc.701.355★ NOUVELLE185 M €4,14 %

SOURCE : SEC Form 13F (2026-05-14). BMI Smart Money Tracker.

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