03-19-2026, 09:35 PM
CNBC was trumpeting the dominance of Baron Opportunity this week: "He manages the best-performing stock mutual fund of the past 25 years—here’s his top advice for investors" (3/16/2026).
Which is great for Mr. Lippert. Three small notes, though. First, it has traditionally also been the most volatile fund in the Baron family. Second, it's record was sort of dented by a 43% loss in 2022, about 1200 bps worse than its peers. Third, so far as we can tell, it's not the top equity fund of the past 25 years. Here's MFO Premium's list of the top 10, including volatility data:
1. Horizon Kinetics Paradigm, 13.4% return, max drawdown -64.5
2. Horizon Kinetics Small Cap Opps, 13.3% and -67.1
3 Nomura Emerging Markets (Great Owl), 13.1% and -59.9
4. Aegis Value (Great Owl), 13.1 and -69.0
5. Baron Opportunity, 13.0 and - 54.4
6. Oberweis Micro-Cap, 12.8 and - 64.7
7. Fidelity Leveraged Company Stock, 12.8 and -65.3
8. Hennessy Focus, 12.7 and -45.9
9. Fidelity OTC, 12.6 and -53.6
10. Fidelity Growth Company, 12.6 and -50.3
Based on risk-adjusted returns (i.e., Sharpe) the sort for this list is
1. Hennessy Focus, 0.58. By Morningstar's calculation, since Baron's inception Hennessy has crushed it. $10k to $122k (Baron) or $171k (Hennessy).
2. Fidelity Growth Company, 0.56
3. Fidelity OTC, 0.54
4. Nomura EM, 0.51
5. Horizon Kinetics Small Cap Opps, Baron Opp, Fidelity Leveraged, tied at 0.49
Based on expense ratio, Fidelity whomps them all.
While it's true that our data is two months fresher, the Baron APR did not change by even a tenth of a point so I suspect the ranking is pretty consistent.
Hennessy's three person team has been in-place since 2009, just three years shy of Mr. Lippert's tenure. Hennessy has a reported 1% turnover and Active Share of 99. Baron is 30% and 70, respectively. Baron's portfolio is a Who's Who of buzzy companies, Hennessy's is a comparatively staid lot. On whole, I think I'd look well beyond the headlines on this one.
David
Quote:Earlier this year, analysts at investment research firm Morningstar identified the three mutual funds that have delivered the best performance over the 25 years that ended in 2025. The winner: Baron Opportunity Fund, which turned in a 13% annualized return.
Which is great for Mr. Lippert. Three small notes, though. First, it has traditionally also been the most volatile fund in the Baron family. Second, it's record was sort of dented by a 43% loss in 2022, about 1200 bps worse than its peers. Third, so far as we can tell, it's not the top equity fund of the past 25 years. Here's MFO Premium's list of the top 10, including volatility data:
1. Horizon Kinetics Paradigm, 13.4% return, max drawdown -64.5
2. Horizon Kinetics Small Cap Opps, 13.3% and -67.1
3 Nomura Emerging Markets (Great Owl), 13.1% and -59.9
4. Aegis Value (Great Owl), 13.1 and -69.0
5. Baron Opportunity, 13.0 and - 54.4
6. Oberweis Micro-Cap, 12.8 and - 64.7
7. Fidelity Leveraged Company Stock, 12.8 and -65.3
8. Hennessy Focus, 12.7 and -45.9
9. Fidelity OTC, 12.6 and -53.6
10. Fidelity Growth Company, 12.6 and -50.3
Based on risk-adjusted returns (i.e., Sharpe) the sort for this list is
1. Hennessy Focus, 0.58. By Morningstar's calculation, since Baron's inception Hennessy has crushed it. $10k to $122k (Baron) or $171k (Hennessy).
2. Fidelity Growth Company, 0.56
3. Fidelity OTC, 0.54
4. Nomura EM, 0.51
5. Horizon Kinetics Small Cap Opps, Baron Opp, Fidelity Leveraged, tied at 0.49
Based on expense ratio, Fidelity whomps them all.
While it's true that our data is two months fresher, the Baron APR did not change by even a tenth of a point so I suspect the ranking is pretty consistent.
Hennessy's three person team has been in-place since 2009, just three years shy of Mr. Lippert's tenure. Hennessy has a reported 1% turnover and Active Share of 99. Baron is 30% and 70, respectively. Baron's portfolio is a Who's Who of buzzy companies, Hennessy's is a comparatively staid lot. On whole, I think I'd look well beyond the headlines on this one.
David