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Baron Real Estate Strategy

Symbol REALESTATE
SCT
Sector

Total Strategy Assets

$1.92 B

As of 03/31/2024

Inception date

01/31/2010

Performance

PerformanceAs of 03/31/2024

YTD11 Year3 Years5 Years10 yearsSince Inception
01/31/2010
Baron Real Estate Strategy (Net)8.29%26.52%2.81%16.15%10.46%14.67%
Baron Real Estate Strategy (Gross)8.56%27.79%3.84%17.31%11.56%15.63%
MSCI USA IMI Extended Real Estate Index6.59%25.27%6.74%9.84%9.36%11.77%
MSCI US REIT Index-0.62%8.96%2.84%2.93%5.25%8.34%
S&P 500 Index10.56%29.88%11.49%15.05%12.96%14.06%

Performance InformationAs of 03/31/2024

3 Years5 Years10 Years
Standard Deviation (%)22.7422.8619.56
Sharpe Ratio-0.620.46
Alpha (%)-3.626.411.27
Beta1.010.951.00
R-Squared (%)94.5286.7885.35
Tracking Error (%)5.338.387.49
Information Ratio-0.740.750.15
Upside Capture (%)93.90110.35105.10
Downside Capture (%)105.7092.14102.06
Except for Standard Deviation and Sharpe Ratio, the performance based-characteristics above were calculated relative to the Baron Real Estate Strategy's benchmark MSCI USA IMI Extended Real Estate Index. Performance statistics for additional periods will be provided on request. Source FactSet: SPAR.

Portfolio Holdings & Characteristics

HoldingsAs of 05/31/2024

HoldingSector% of Net Assets
Toll Brothers, Inc.
Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) is a leading high-end, luxury homebuilder that caters to move-up, empty-nester, active-adult, age-qualified, and second-home buyers in 19 states in the U.S.
New single-family home construction activity in the U.S. remains below the levels needed to meet current and pent-up demand following a decade of under-building. We expect single-family home construction activity to continue over the medium term. In our view, Toll is a differentiated homebuilder with a niche focus on high-end homes and an excellent management team. We think Toll Brothers is well positioned to benefit from housing growth through its sizable land bank, healthy balance sheet, and market share gains against smaller players.
Consumer Discretionary7.4%
Lennar Corporation
Lennar Corporation (LEN) is one of the nation's largest homebuilders.
New single-family home construction activity in the U.S. remains below the levels needed to meet current and pent-up demand following a decade of under-building. We expect single-family home construction activity to continue over the next several years. As one of the largest U.S. homebuilders, Lennar is well positioned to benefit from end market growth and market share gains. The company is also driving improved returns on capital via margin expansion and improved capital efficiency.
Consumer Discretionary5.6%
D.R. Horton, Inc.
D.R. Horton, Inc. (DHI) is the largest homebuilder in the U.S.
New single-family home construction activity in the U.S. remains below the levels needed to meet current and pent-up demand following a decade of under-building. We expect single-family home construction activity to continue over the medium term. As the largest homebuilder, D.R. Horton is well positioned to benefit from end market growth and market share gains. The company is also driving improved returns on capital via margin expansion and improved capital efficiency.
Consumer Discretionary5.3%
Equinix, Inc.
Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) is a network neutral operator of 260 data centers across 70 metro areas and 33 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It provides highly reliable facilities and offers low latency interconnection to and among business partners, networks, and cloud service providers.
We believe Equinix benefits from several key long-term secular trends, including increasing internet traffic, IT outsourcing, cloud computing, AI, and mobility. As data and customer needs become more global, Equinix should also be able to leverage its leading global data center platform. We believe Equinix can continue to grow through new data center development, rent increases, and the addition of value-added services supplemented by accretive acquisitions that increase market penetration and reach. 
Real Estate4.8%
American Tower Corporation
American Tower Corp. (AMT) is the largest independent wireless tower operator worldwide, with more than 240,000 towers in 20 countries on five continents.
Increasing demand for wireless data coverage is driving leasing activity by wireless carriers, with mobile data growing more than 25% per year. Since zoning for new towers is difficult to obtain, leasing on an existing tower (tenant colocation) or modifying existing equipment (amendment) is typically the best option. American Tower has been expanding internationally as well. We expect new tenants and higher colocation activity to drive continued strong organic cash flow growth. We believe American Tower will continue to acquire tower portfolios opportunistically.
Real Estate4.8%
Blackstone Inc.
Blackstone Inc. (BX) is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. It has $1 trillion in assets under management, with specialization across Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund Solutions, and Credit & Insurance.
Blackstone is a best-of-breed global alternative asset manager, with a strong brand, global scale, long-term investment track record, full suite of products, and a proven executive team. The company is still in the early innings of democratizing access to alternative investments for a broader array of investors. Blackstone is asset-light, maintains minimal corporate level debt, and returns most of its cash flow through dividends and share repurchases. 
Financials4.4%
CoStar Group, Inc.
CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP) is the leading provider of information and marketing services to the commercial real estate industry.
CoStar has built a proprietary database through data collection over a 20-year period, creating high barriers to entry. We think CoStar's suite should grow at mid-teens rates, and we believe its Loopnet marketing platform can grow even faster. Its Apartments.com platform is the dominant multi-family internet listing service and should grow revenue by more than 20%. CoStar is starting to expand into residential, creating additional significant growth opportunities. Its balance sheet and cash generation create M&A optionality.
Real Estate4.1%
Equity Residential
Equity Residential (EQR) is the largest U.S. apartment REIT, with over 75,000 units and a portfolio valued at over $35 billion, focused largely on coastal markets such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston, and San Francisco.
Equity Residential is a blue-chip apartment REIT, with high-quality assets in markets with high barriers to entry, a proven management team, a state-of-the-art operating platform, and a strong balance sheet. Tenant demand for apartments remains strong, driven by low housing inventories and changing demographics. Following a period of decelerating rent growth driven by elevated new construction levels, we think Equity Residential should begin to see stabilizing rent growth.
Real Estate3.7%
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) is a leading global provider of large-scale data center services to enterprises, cloud providers, and network operators. The company has 310 data centers in over 50 metro areas around the globe, with 51% of revenue in North America and the remainder in other regions worldwide.
Digital Realty enjoys strong growth prospects driven by cloud adoption, IT/data center outsourcing, and emerging AI applications. With a recurring revenue model, a sticky customer base with long-term leases, scale advantages, and a strong management team, we think Digital Realty is well positioned to take share. It offers a comprehensive suite of services through its acquisitions of Telx Group (network dense interconnection provider), Equicity (eight European assets), DuPont Fabros (U.S.-based wholesale operator), Ascenty (Brazil-based operator), and InterXion (Europe).
Real Estate3.6%
Welltower Inc.
Welltower Inc. (WELL) is a $45 billion diversified health care owner, primarily in senior housing (assisted and independent living). Core to its strategy is to partner with top-tier operators and health systems while providing operators access to its proprietary data analytics platform.
We are optimistic about the prospects for Welltower given the substantial opportunity for cyclical recovery and continued secular growth in its senior housing business through occupancy and rent growth coupled with the company's ability to recycle capital at attractive rates of returns, premier health care platform, partnerships with top tier operators, and well-respected management team focused solely on creating value on a per-share basis.
Real Estate3.4%
Total
Total
47.1%
Top Ten Holdings, Portfolio Holdings, and Sector Breakdown based on net assets. Positions smaller than 0.05% round to 0.0%. Portfolio holdings may change over time.
Portfolio holdings are subject to change. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.

Contributors / DetractorsQuarterly as of 03/31/2024

Top ContributorsAverage WeightContribution
Toll Brothers, Inc.10.35%2.60%
Lennar Corporation5.41%0.83%
Installed Building Products, Inc.2.01%0.78%
Wynn Resorts, Limited3.79%0.49%
CoStar Group, Inc.4.24%0.42%
Source:  FactSet PA.  Based on the gross performance results of the representative account. 

GICS Sector BreakdownAs of 05/31/2024

Portfolio Characteristics

Real Estate

38.5%

Consumer Discretionary

37.6%

Financials

8.0%

Materials

6.5%

Cash & Cash Equivalents

5.1%

Industrials

3.9%

Information Technology

0.3%

Sub-Industry
05/31/2024
Homebuilding19.80%
Real Estate Services 9.50%
Data Center REITs 8.40%
Asset Management & Custody Banks8.00%
Casinos & Gaming7.90%
Multi-Family Residential REITs 5.70%
Construction Materials5.10%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines5.10%
Telecom Tower REITs 4.80%
Industrial REITs 4.10%
Home Improvement Retail3.40%
Health Care REITs 3.40%
Single-Family Residential REITs 2.60%
Trading Companies & Distributors2.30%
Building Products1.60%
048121620
Homebuilding19.80%
Real Estate Services 9.50%
Data Center REITs 8.40%
Asset Management & Custody Banks8.00%
Casinos & Gaming7.90%
Multi-Family Residential REITs 5.70%
Construction Materials5.10%
Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines5.10%
Telecom Tower REITs 4.80%
Industrial REITs 4.10%
Home Improvement Retail3.40%
Health Care REITs 3.40%
Single-Family Residential REITs 2.60%
Trading Companies & Distributors2.30%
Building Products1.60%
048121620

Portfolio CharacteristicsAs of 03/31/2024

Baron Real Estate StrategyMSCI USA IMI Extended Real Estate Index
Inception DateJanuary 31, 2010
# of Issuers / % of Net Assets35 / 97.8%
Turnover (3 Year Average)79.64%
Active Share74.4%
Median Market Cap$17.36 billion$3.42 billion
Weighted Average Market Cap$44.84 billion$83.90 billion
EPS Growth (3-5 year forecast)9.2%8.9%
Price/Earnings Ratio (trailing 12-month)20.924.4
Price/Book Ratio2.72.5
Price/Sales Ratio2.02.5
Total Strategy Assets$1.92 billion
Price/Book Ratio and Price/Sales Ratio are calculated using the Weighted Harmonic Average. Source: FactSet PA. Internal valuation metrics may differ.