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Terry Smith's Q1 2026 13F moves

By HoldLens EditorialPublished May 28, 2026

TL;DR

Fundsmith's Q1 2026 13F-HR (filed 2026-05-15) shows Terry Smith — the “English Warren Buffett” — doing something unusual: trimming almost every top position at once. Marriott (−15%), Stryker (−17%), Waters (−10%), Visa (−12%), Alphabet (−16%), Pfizer (−17%), Interactive Brokers (−22%) and ADP (−8%) were all reduced, with MSCI (−61%) and Rollins (−58%) cut to near-exits. There are no offsetting adds among the top moves — a uniform pullback across a 34-name quality-compounder book. Every move is reconstructable from EDGAR using Form 13F-HR.

The Q1 2026 picture

Fundsmith's doctrine is famously simple: “buy good companies, don't overpay, do nothing.” The “do nothing” is what makes Q1 2026 notable — because Fundsmith did quite a lot, and all in one direction. Every one of the largest US-listed positions was trimmed. This is the US-listed sleeve of a UK-domiciled global fund, so it is a partial view, but the pattern within it is unusually uniform.

Broad trims across the top of the book

Marriott (MAR) −15% to 8.6%, Stryker (SYK) −17% to 7.8%, Waters (WAT) −10% to 7.5% — the three largest positions, all reduced.
Visa (V) −12% to 7.3%, Alphabet (GOOGL) −16% to 6.6%, Pfizer (PFE) −17% to 6.6%, Interactive Brokers (IBKR) −22% to 6.4%, ADP −8% to 6.1% — the mid-book quality names, also trimmed.
MSCI −61% to 0.3%, Rollins −58% to 0.3% — cut to token positions, effectively near-exits.
Fortinet (−6%), Otis (−12%) — further small reductions. No top-position adds appear in the quarter.

What the pattern signals

The defining feature is uniformity: a broad, simultaneous reduction rather than a rotation from one name into another. When a long-only fund trims nearly its whole book at once and adds nothing material, the usual explanations are net selling — raising cash, meeting redemptions, or a fund-level rebalancing — rather than a series of individual stock calls. Fundsmith has publicly discussed flows in recent years, but the 13F alone cannot confirm which of these drove the quarter; it shows the what, not the why.

What it is not is a thesis change on any single company: the same quality names (Marriott, Stryker, Waters, Visa, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta) remain the core of the book, just at lower weights. The portfolio still looks like Fundsmith — high-quality, cash-generative compounders — only lighter.

It also contrasts sharply with the buyers this quarter. Where Seth Klarman was adding and Lone Pine was building new positions, Fundsmith spent the quarter lightening. Same public record, opposite posture.

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How to verify this yourself

Every position change above is reconstructable from public SEC EDGAR filings. Steps:

Open Fundsmith's 13F-HR filing history on EDGAR (CIK 0001569205).
Compare the Q1 2026 13F (filed 2026-05-15, report date 2026-03-31) line-by-line against the Q4 2025 13F (filed Feb 2026).
Position changes appear as decreased share counts across nearly every top holding (the broad trim), with MSCI and Rollins reduced to token sizes.
Cross-reference with HoldLens's machine-readable /api/v1/snapshot/2026-Q1.json and the live Terry Smith portfolio page.

Our view

A near-uniform trim with no offsetting adds is a different kind of signal from a stock call. The most likely reading is fund-level selling — cash, flows, or rebalancing — rather than Smith turning bearish on Marriott, Visa or Alphabet individually; the book still holds the same quality compounders at lower weights. The one firm conclusion the 13F supports is that Fundsmith's US-listed sleeve carried less equity exposure at the end of Q1 than at the start. As always with a 13F, this is the US long book only, and the “why” is not disclosed — only the “what.”

Famous trades — the public-record case studies

Six historical trades reconstructable from SEC EDGAR alone. Each essay traces the trade through 13F + Form 4 + DEF 14A filings.

Warren Buffett's Coca-Cola trade

Berkshire's 1988-89 KO purchase — $1.3B → ~$28B, untouched 37 years.

Warren Buffett's Apple position

Berkshire's 2016-onward AAPL accumulation — largest equity position in firm history.

Warren Buffett's Bank of America 2011 deal

The $5B preferred + 700M-share warrants at $7.14 strike. ~$13B paper gain at 2017 exercise.

David Tepper's 2009 bank trade

Appaloosa's $2B March 2009 distressed-bank bet (BAC + C + AIG). ~$7B returned. $4B Tepper payday.

Michael Burry's Big Short

Scion Capital's 2005-2008 subprime CDS trade — ~489% net return.

Bill Ackman's Herbalife short

Pershing Square's 2012-2018 multi-year activist campaign.

Black Wednesday — the Quantum Fund pound trade

September 16, 1992. The single-day macro trade that broke the Bank of England.

Charlie Munger's Costco position

1997-2023 hold + board seat — the canonical long-duration value position.

Carl Icahn's Apple buyback campaign

2013-2016 long-side activism — public letter to Tim Cook, ~$2B realized gain.

See all 6 essays in the Famous Trades collection →

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