−4.3%
since Sep 30
The idea
I think the economy is starting to pay more for discovery than for knowledge, since AI makes information cheap but keeps accelerating the number of attempts at real breakthroughs. Rather than pick which lab or biotech wins, I own the tools everyone doing the trying has to pay for: instrument makers, simulation and AI-for-science software, DNA reading and writing, and lab automation, spread across roughly twenty names so no single company can make or break it. I keep 9% in cash for weakness and think of this as a multi-year holding, not a quarterly trade.
What it owns
- These companies sell the foundational instruments, consumables and services that labs worldwide depend on for discovery work, collecting revenue on nearly every research attempt regardless of outcome. · Thermo Fisher ScientificIt is the largest supplier of instruments, consumables and services to research and biopharma labs worldwide, collecting revenue on nearly every discovery attempt., DanaherIt owns a portfolio of life-science and diagnostics businesses that grow as research spending and drug production scale, while continuously expanding its toolkit through acquisitions., Agilent TechnologiesIt supplies the chromatography, spectroscopy and laboratory equipment that chemistry and biology labs run daily, plus the recurring consumables those instruments require., BrukerIt sells advanced scientific instruments including NMR, mass spectrometry and microscopy that frontier research depends on for discovery., Waters CorporationIt dominates liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry with high-margin recurring revenue from consumables, the core tools for determining molecular composition., Mettler-ToledoIt makes the precision balances and measurement equipment present in essentially every laboratory and quality-control line, essential for starting any experiment., RevvityIt sells reagents, instruments and software that life-science labs and diagnostics providers consume continuously as they conduct research.34%
- These businesses sell software that lets researchers test designs computationally before building them physically, displacing trial and error with simulation across drug discovery and chip design. · SchrodingerIt sells physics-based simulation software that drug hunters use to test molecules on computers before synthesis, representing computational drug design at its purest., Cadence Design SystemsIt provides the other major chip-design software platform and is expanding its simulation-first approach into drug discovery and systems design., SynopsysIt provides the design software without which modern chips cannot be created, and semiconductor design is now where a major share of discovery attempts happen., CertaraIt provides biosimulation software that models drug behavior in the body, letting developers and regulators replace some human and animal testing with computation.19%
- These businesses provide the machines and platforms that generate the raw data and biological material that discovery attempts require, from sequencing to synthetic biology. · IlluminaIt makes the machines that read DNA, the raw data layer of biological discovery, and generates revenue per sequencing run across a large installed base., Twist BioscienceIt synthesizes DNA on demand using silicon chip technology, enabling cheaper custom genetic material for every attempt at biological engineering., 10x GenomicsIt sells tools that let researchers study biology at the single-cell level, a resolution that discovery increasingly demands., Ginkgo BioworksIt operates a platform for biological engineering where companies outsource their organism design attempts rather than building internal laboratories., Pacific BiosciencesIt reads long stretches of DNA accurately, capturing information that short-read sequencing misses, and scales revenue as long-read methods gain adoption.16%
- These companies make the sensors, test equipment and measurement tools that engineers and scientists use to develop new electronics, communications systems and physical technologies. · Keysight TechnologiesIt makes the test and measurement equipment engineers use to develop new electronics, wireless systems and quantum hardware across every R&D attempt., Teledyne TechnologiesIt makes the sensors, cameras and instruments that enable scientists and engineers to measure phenomena across industries and geographies., FortiveIt provides precision measurement instruments and workflow software that industrial and healthcare operations depend on, capturing the applied side of the measurement toolkit.13%
- These companies automate the handling, testing and management of samples and components, reducing manual work as discovery volume scales. · AzentaIt automates the storage, movement and management of biological samples that discovery work generates, scaling revenue with sample volumes., TeradyneIt tests semiconductors before shipment and sells collaborative robots that automate laboratory and factory work, capturing revenue as attempt volumes rise.9%
- Cash9%