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FundsmithFund report31 Dec 2025Source: fundsmith.co.uk

Fundsmith Equity Fund Annual Report 2025

Fundsmith is the fund firm Terry Smith ("Britain's Warren Buffett") founded in 2010, with a discipline of radical simplicity — Buy Good Companies, Don't Overpay, Do Nothing: a concentrated book of 20-30 high-ROCE global consumer, healthcare and tech franchises with near-zero turnover. His annual shareholder letters are famous for wit and common sense; peak AUM topped £25bn.

Terry Smith · 2010 · 英国伦敦Quality growth / Concentrated

In plain words

Terry Smith's Fundsmith fund returned just 0.8% in 2025, far behind the market's 12.8%. Why? The market was dominated by a few tech giants like Nvidia and Tesla, which Smith refuses to buy because they don't meet his quality standards. A weaker dollar also hurt returns. For ordinary investors, this is a reminder not to chase hot stocks. Instead, focus on companies with strong cash flow and high profits—and hold them patiently. Smith's honest, long-term approach is worth paying attention to.

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In 2025, the fund returned +0.8%, underperforming the MSCI World Index's +12.8%. During the period, the largest sales were Meta Platforms (approximately £1.7 billion) and Microsoft (approximately £1.45 billion), with complete exits from PepsiCo and Brown-Forman; the largest purchase was Zoetis (appr

~4 min full read · 5 sections
Deep Analysis

Period Performance (T Class Accumulation Shares)

Item 2025 (Year) Cumulative Since Inception (From 2010.11.01) Annualised Since Inception
Fund +0.8% +612.9% +13.8%
MSCI World Index (Sterling Net Return) +12.8% +467.6% +12.1%
IA Global Peer Average +290.8% +9.4%

Source: Table on page 5 of the report. Since inception, the fund has outperformed the index by 1.7% p.a., with a Sortino ratio of 0.75 (index 0.48).

Top Ten Holdings

The report does not provide a complete "top ten holdings" table with specific market values/weights. Portfolio characteristics are disclosed as follows:

Metric 2025 2024
Number of Stocks 27
Weighted Average Free Cash Flow Yield 3.7% 3.1%
Portfolio Weighted ROCE 31% 32%
Portfolio Weighted Gross Margin 62% 64%
Portfolio Weighted Operating Margin 28% 30%
Cash Conversion Rate 94% 85%

Major Buys and Sells This Period

New Positions (Buys):

  • Zoetis
  • EssilorLuxottica
  • Intuit
  • Wolters Kluwer

Closed Positions (Sold Entirely):

  • Brown-Forman
  • PepsiCo

New Holdings (Received from Spin-off):

  • Magnum Ice Cream (spun off from Unilever)

Significant Increases (Listed as "Largest Buys"):

  • Zoetis (largest buy, cost approximately £444 million)
  • Intuit
  • EssilorLuxottica
  • Texas Instruments (increased)
  • Atlas Copco (increased)

Significant Reductions/Closed Positions (Listed as "Largest Sells"):

  • Meta Platforms (largest sell, approximately £1.7 billion)
  • Microsoft (approximately £1.45 billion)
  • PepsiCo (closed)
  • Brown-Forman (closed)
  • Alphabet (approximately £646 million)

Fees and Size

Item Data
Ongoing Charges Figure (OCF) 1.04%
Total Cost of Investment (TCI, including transaction costs) 1.06%
Total Fund Assets (T Acc + T Inc shares) Approximately £3.465 billion
Turnover Rate 12.7%
Voluntary Transaction Costs as % of Average Fund Value 0.008% (approx. 1 basis point)

Dividends: T Class Accumulation distributed 2.13 pence per share; T Class Income distributed 1.93 pence per share.

Highlights from Manager Comments

  • Underperformance mainly due to market concentration and indexing: Fund manager Terry Smith noted that the top 10 constituents of the S&P 500 contributed 50% of the total return in 2025 (in USD), a concentration level not seen since the 1930s. Active funds underperform passively because they do not hold all of the "Magnificent Seven" stocks.
  • Index funds create "momentum distortion": Smith cited an NBER study indicating that the flow of money from active to index funds has a multiplier effect of 3-8 times on stock prices. Over 50% of U.S. equity fund assets are now passively managed, forming a self-reinforcing market-cap push.
  • Stick to strategy, do not chase AI/momentum: Smith clearly stated he refuses to buy companies that do not meet the fund's criteria, even if they have large market caps or rapid price appreciation (e.g., Nvidia, Tesla). The portfolio's weighted free cash flow growth rate reached 16% in 2025, with consistently high fundamental quality.
  • Portfolio valuation now more attractive relative to the market: The portfolio's weighted free cash flow yield rose from 3.1% at the start of the year to 3.7% at year-end, while the S&P 500's FCF yield stood at 2.8%. The manager believes the underlying companies in the portfolio are significantly stronger than the index average.
  • Weaker dollar further weighed on sterling-denominated returns: In 2025, sterling appreciated from 1.25 to 1.35 against the dollar. Since approximately 70% of the portfolio is invested in the U.S. market, currency movements had a negative impact on the fund's sterling net asset value.