2025 Portfolio Update — YTD: +11.8%
Jan–Dec 2025: +11.8% YTD, versus ACWI +22.4%, SPY +17.7%, and RSP +11.2%
The Moat Mind Portfolio finished 2025 up 11.8%. That’s a positive absolute year, but it trailed global equities (ACWI) and the S&P 500 (SPY), while landing roughly in-line with S&P 500 equal weight (RSP).
The key story of the year is timing: through the end of September the portfolio was up +18.7% YTD and sitting at/near the top versus the same benchmarks, but Q4 gave back ~6.9 percentage points of performance (from +18.7% to +11.8%) while the benchmarks continued to grind higher.
Portfolio updates can be found in the Portfolio section.
Looking ahead to 2026
My focus going into 2026 is unchanged: own a small set of businesses where I believe the moat, balance sheet, and reinvestment runway can drive compounding over a multi-year window. After a year where relative performance swung materially by quarter, the priority is ensuring each position still clears the bar on fundamentals and valuation.




