Why One Fund Trimmed 1.4% Exposure to a Bank Stock Up 13% in a Year

On January 30, Shaker Investments reported selling out of Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC), unloading 26,185 shares in an estimated $3.47 million transaction based on quarterly average pricing.

What happened

According to an SEC filing dated January 30, Shaker Investments sold its entire stake of 26,185 shares in Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC). The fund’s quarter-end position value in Wintrust Financial decreased by $3.47 million, reflecting both the sale and movement in the stock price.

What else to know

The fund’s exit from Wintrust Financial reduced its exposure by 1.44% of its 13F assets under management.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NYSE: AX: $32.63 million (13.6% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: AVGO: $12.76 million (5.3% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: NVDA: $12.72 million (5.3% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: GOOGL: $10.84 million (4.5% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: MSFT: $10.21 million (4.2% of AUM)

As of January 29, shares of Wintrust Financial were priced at $147.90, up 13.2% over the past year and underperforming the S&P 500 by about 2 percentage points.

Company overview

Company snapshot

• Wintrust Financial Corporation offers community banking, specialty finance, and wealth management services, with revenue streams from deposits, loans, mortgage origination, insurance premium financing, and asset management.
• The company operates a diversified business model generating income through net interest margins, fee-based services, and specialty lending, primarily across the Midwest and select markets in Florida.
• It serves individuals, small to mid-sized businesses, local government units, and institutional clients, focusing on the Chicago metropolitan area, southern Wisconsin, northwest Indiana, and Florida.

Wintrust Financial is a regional financial holding company with a multi-segment strategy spanning community banking, specialty finance, and wealth management. The company leverages a broad footprint of banking facilities and ATMs to serve a diverse client base across several states.

What this transaction means for investors

This exit seemingly sharpens the contrast between what this portfolio wants more of and what it is leaving behind. With over 30% of assets now concentrated in a mix of industrials and mega-cap technology (and that’s just looking at top holdings), the removal of a regional bank trims exposure to rate-sensitive earnings just as the market continues to reward scale, pricing power, and secular growth.

Wintrust’s latest earnings showed a steady business, supported by loan growth and a diversified fee base across community banking and specialty finance. But like many regional banks, profitability remains tethered to net interest margin dynamics and deposit costs that are far harder to control than headline revenue growth. The stock rose about 13% over the past year, yet still lagged the broader market, suggesting respectable execution without clear multiple expansion.

Against that backdrop, this looks less like a negative call on the company and more like a relative one. The fund’s largest positions lean heavily toward names with dominant market positions and longer growth runways, where incremental capital can compound faster.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Axos Financial, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.