Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Polen Global Growth Strategy”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fourth quarter of 2025 seemed to be like the entire year. The stock market experienced a severe 5% sell-off in the fourth quarter but quickly recovered to all-time highs, mirroring the V-shaped recovery from April lows. In this environment, the Fund’s quality-heavy portfolio faced relative performance headwinds. The portfolio’s software holdings trailed the broader market gains despite revenue and earnings growth. The Portfolio returned -2.5% gross of fees (-2.7% net of fees) in Q4 2025, lagging 3.3% gain for the MSCI All Country World Index (the “Index”). Please review the Strategy’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Polen Global Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR). ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) is a clinical research organization that focuses on providing outsourced development and commercialization services. On March 09, 2026, ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) stock closed at $110.03 per share. One-month return of ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) was -23.88%, and its shares lost 37.40% over the past 52 weeks. ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion.
Polen Global Growth Strategy stated the following regarding ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“We also decided to exit our relatively small position in ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR). We remain optimistic about Icon’s long-term prospects but growth for the company in the short to intermediate term still appears challenged to us. Without the conviction to add to our existing weight we feel it is better to reallocate to other opportunities where the business momentum is stronger.”
ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 41 hedge fund portfolios held ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) at the end of the fourth quarter, compared to 43 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.
