Seth Klarman’s Baupost makes Amazon top holding, starts Aon and Visa stakes
Seth Klarman’s Baupost Group continued searching for opportunities amid elevated valuations tied to the AI-driven rally in U.S. stocks, hiking its stake in Amazon and adding new picks including Aon and Visa . The hedge fund, with more than $20 billion in assets , boosted its stake in Amazon by 47% in the first quarter, making the e-commerce and cloud-computing giant the hedge fund’s largest disclosed U.S. equity holding at the end of March, according to a new regulatory filing. The Boston-based investment firm also initiated sizable new positions in insurance broker Aon, payments giant Visa and medical-device maker Teleflex , according to a regulatory filing released Thursday. Baupost’s Amazon stake was valued at roughly $650 million at the end of the quarter, topping longtime holdings including Restaurant Brands , Wesco International and Union Pacific . The fund also increased its positions in Alphabet and Ferguson Enterprises , while trimming stakes in Union Pacific and Willis Towers Watson . Klarman, a longtime follower of Benjamin Graham’s value-investing philosophy, is known for taking a patient and often contrarian approach to markets. The 67-year-old investor has frequently been compared to Warren Buffett, earning the nickname “Oracle of Boston” in investing circles. Klarman’s 1991 book “Margin of Safety,” which laid out his disciplined approach to risk and valuation, has become a cult classic among investors and now sells for thousands of dollars online because it has long been out of print.
