−6.1%
since Oct 10
The idea
I believe the economy is shifting from rewarding what we already know to rewarding the act of discovery itself, as AI makes knowledge cheap but speeds up every attempt at finding what's new. Rather than guess which lab or biotech wins, I own the toolmakers who get paid regardless: instrument giants, simulation and AI-for-science software, genomics and lab automation, plus the firms that measure the physical world. I'm holding 9% in cash for weakness and treating this as a multi-year position, spread across the whole toolkit rather than betting on any single name.
What it owns
- These companies supply the core instruments, consumables and services that labs worldwide run on every discovery attempt, collecting revenue regardless of which experiments succeed. · Thermo Fisher ScientificIt is the largest global seller of instruments, consumables and services to research and biopharma labs, collecting revenue on nearly every discovery attempt., DanaherIt owns a portfolio of life-science and diagnostics businesses that scale with research spending and drug production, and regularly acquires new tool companies to expand its toolkit., Agilent TechnologiesIt supplies chromatography, spectroscopy and laboratory instruments plus the recurring consumables and services those instruments require., Waters CorporationIt dominates liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry with high-margin recurring revenue from an installed base used to determine molecular composition., BrukerIt sells advanced scientific instruments including NMR, mass spectrometry and microscopy that frontier research depends on., Mettler-ToledoIt makes precision balances and measurement equipment that sit in nearly every laboratory and quality-control line globally., RevvityIt sells reagents, instruments and software that life-science labs and diagnostics providers consume as recurring expenses.34%
- These companies sell software that lets researchers test ideas on computers before making them physically, replacing some trial-and-error work with simulation. · SchrodingerIt sells physics-based simulation software that lets drug researchers test molecules on computers before synthesizing them, automating discovery work., SynopsysIt supplies the software that designs modern chips, where an increasing share of discovery attempts now occur, and holds roughly half of the chip design software market., Cadence Design SystemsIt is the other major chip design software provider and is extending its simulation-first approach into drug discovery and systems design., CertaraIt sells biosimulation software that models drug behavior in the body, letting researchers and regulators replace some testing with computation.19%
- These companies provide the sequencing, synthesis and single-cell analysis tools that generate the raw data and biological components discovery work depends on. · IlluminaIt makes the machines that read DNA sequences and gets paid per run on a large installed base, providing the raw data layer of biological discovery., Twist BioscienceIt synthesizes DNA on silicon chips, so researchers can start biology experiments with inexpensive custom genetic sequences., 10x GenomicsIt sells tools that let researchers study individual cells, providing the level of biological resolution that discovery increasingly requires., Pacific BiosciencesIt reads long stretches of DNA accurately, capturing information that short-read sequencing misses, expanding what discovery work can see., Ginkgo BioworksIt operates a platform for engineering organisms on behalf of clients, getting paid as companies outsource biology R&D work instead of building internal labs.16%
- These companies make the sensors, test equipment and measurement tools that engineers and scientists use to develop new electronics, materials and physical systems. · Keysight TechnologiesIt makes the test and measurement instruments that engineers use to develop new electronics, wireless systems and quantum hardware., Teledyne TechnologiesIt makes sensors, cameras and instruments that let scientists and engineers measure phenomena across scales from ocean floors to space., FortiveIt sells precision instruments and workflow software that industrial and healthcare operations use for measurement and connected operations.13%
- These companies automate the handling, testing and movement of samples and chips, getting paid as experiment volumes and production scales increase. · AzentaIt stores, moves and manages the biological samples that discovery work generates, scaling with experiment volume., TeradyneIt tests chips before they ship and sells collaborative robots that automate lab and factory work, scaling with production volume and automation adoption.9%
- Cash9%