Tracking Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management 13F Portfolio – Q1 2024 Update

This article is part of a series providing quarterly ongoing analysis of changes to TCI Fund Management’s 13F portfolio. It is based on the regulatory 13F Form filed on 05/15/2024. Please visit our tracking of Chris Hohn’s TCI Fund Management 13F portfolio. Article for an insight into their investment philosophy and our last To update for the fund’s movements in the fourth quarter of 2023.

This quarter, the value of TCI Fund Management’s 13F portfolio increased from $35.97 billion to $39.66 billion. The number of positions decreased from 10 to 9. The top three holdings represent approximately 46%, while the top five holdings represent nearly 68% of 13F assets: General Electric, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, Moody’s and Visa.

Share disposals:

Ferguson plc (FERG): FERG represented a very small share of 0.23% of the portfolio position built and sold in the second quarter of 2023 during the quarter.

Stakes increases:

General Electric (GE): GE is currently the largest position in the portfolio at ~21%. It was purchased in Q1 2023 at prices between ~$66 and ~$94. The next quarter saw a ~60% stake increase at prices between ~$94 and ~$110. This quarter saw another ~12% increase at prices between ~$99 and ~$144. The stock is currently trading well above its buy price range at ~$160.

Moody’s Corp (MCO): MCO is a ~12% position that has been in the portfolio since its first 13F filing in Q2 2015. At that time, the stake was already quite large at 3.9M shares. The position has fluctuated. Recent activity follows. H1 2022 saw a ~25% stake gain at prices between ~$254 and ~$386. This was followed by a similar increase in the two quarters through Q1 2023 at prices between ~$235 and ~$330. Last quarter saw a ~16% increase at prices between ~$302 and ~$392. The stock is currently trading at ~$428. There was a minor increase this quarter.

Note: You own approximately 6.7% of the company.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOG): GOOG represents ~7% of the portfolio position. It was first purchased in 2017 at prices between ~$40 and ~$55. The next year, the stake was increased at prices between ~$49 and ~$62. In Q1 2022, there was a ~18% sell-off, while in Q3 2022 there was a ~10% increase. In H1 2023 there was a ~75% reduction at prices between ~$87 and ~$128. The stock is currently trading at ~$186. In Q3 2023 there was a ~9% decline, while this quarter there was a similar increase.

Reductions in use:

Canadian National Railway (CNI): CNI is currently the second largest position at ~13% of the portfolio. It was built during 2018-19 at prices between ~$71 and ~$95. Q2 and Q3 2021 saw a ~75% stake increase at prices between ~$104 and ~$127. Q2 2023 also saw a ~11% increase. The stock currently trades at ~$118. There have been minor cuts in the last two quarters.

Note: You own approximately 6.3% of the company.

Canadian Pacific (CP): The ~12% stake in CP was acquired in 2018-19 at prices ranging from ~$34 to ~$51. There was a minor increase in 2020, but the position has been held steady since then. The stock currently trades at ~$79.24. There have been minor cuts in the last two quarters.

Note: You own approximately 6% of the company.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): MSFT represents 11.12% of the portfolio stake built last quarter at prices between ~$313 and ~$383, and the stock is currently trading well above that range at ~$451. There have been minor cuts this quarter.

Note: MSFT has already had one round trip. During 2017-18, a ~12% stake in MSFT was built at prices between ~$60 and ~$115. In 2019, ~50% was sold at prices between ~$100 and ~$160. In the two quarters ending in Q2 2023, there was a ~48% reduction at prices between ~$222 and ~$348. The stake was sold in the next quarter at prices between ~$312 and ~$358.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO): TMO represents 2.22% of the portfolio stake built over the three quarters ending Q2 2023 at prices between ~$485 and ~$605, and the stock is currently trading at ~$557. ~52% was sold this quarter at prices between ~$529 and ~$599.

Kept stable:

Visa Inc. (V): The ~12% stake in Visa of the portfolio was built up in 2020 at prices between ~$147 and ~$219. In the second half of 2021, the stake was increased by ~64% at prices between ~$196 and ~$249, while in the next quarter it was reduced by ~14% at prices between ~$191 and ~$235. The three quarters to the third quarter of 2023 also saw a reduction of ~18%. The stock is now at ~$274.

S&P Global Inc. (SPGI): The ~10% stake in the SPGI portfolio was first purchased in 2017 and built up in 2019 at prices as high as ~$275. Q1 2021 saw a ~150% stake increase at prices between ~$306 and ~$362, while H2 2021 saw ~37% stake sale at prices between ~$415 and ~$475. Q1 2022 saw a ~80% stake increase at prices between ~$373 and ~$461. Another ~30% stake increase followed in the next quarter at prices between ~$316 and ~$415. The stock is currently trading at ~$449.

The following table shows the changes to TCI Fund Management’s 13F holdings in the first quarter of 2024: