Why a 2.1% Portfolio Shift Targets a New ETF With 15% Long-Term Returns

On January 22, Washington-based Capital Planning LLC disclosed a new position in the Akre Focus ETF (NYSE:AKRE), acquiring 114,952 shares worth $7.45 million.

What happened

According to a January 22 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Capital Planning initiated a new position in the Akre Focus ETF (NYSE:AKRE) by purchasing 114,952 shares. As a result, the quarter-end value of the position increased by $7.45 million, a figure that includes both share purchases and market price changes.

What else to know

The AKRE stake represents 2.1% of reportable 13F assets under management.

Top holdings after the filing:

• NYSEMKT: IVV: $45.79 million (12.8% of AUM)
• NASDAQ: MSFT: $26.21 million (7.3% of AUM)
• NYSE: PWR: $26.05 million (7.3% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT: SCHG: $25.64 million (7.2% of AUM)
• NYSEMKT: DGRO: $16.68 million (4.7% of AUM)

As of January 23, AKRE shares were priced at $62.64, down about 11% from the fund’s October listing.

ETF overview

ETF snapshot

• AKRE offers a diversified portfolio primarily comprising US equities, including common and preferred stocks, warrants, options, and equity-like instruments such as partnership interests and REITs.
• The fund employs a fundamental, quality-focused investment approach targeting companies with high shareholder returns, strong management, and robust reinvestment opportunities, aiming to acquire positions at reasonable valuations.
• It serves institutional and retail investors seeking exposure to a concentrated portfolio of high-conviction US and select foreign equities.

The Akre Focus ETF is a US-listed investment fund that applies a disciplined, fundamentals-driven strategy to select companies with durable competitive advantages and proven management teams. The fund's flexible mandate allows for investment across market capitalizations and includes a modest allocation to foreign securities and alternative equity instruments. By focusing on business quality and growth potential, the ETF seeks to generate long-term value for investors while maintaining a concentrated portfolio to maximize the impact of its highest-conviction ideas.

What this transaction means for investors

This move is interesting because most of the fund’s assets sit in broad index funds and factor ETFs, so adding a concentrated strategy might be a deliberate choice to accept more variance in exchange for differentiated outcomes.

The Akre Focus ETF runs a tight book. It typically holds a small number of businesses selected for durable competitive advantages, strong management, and the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. As of late January, its top holdings included Mastercard, Brookfield, Constellation Software, Visa, and Moody’s, names that together make up about 50% of the portfolio and skew toward pricing power and capital-light growth. Meanwhile, the fund carries a 0.98% expense ratio, reflecting its active approach, and has delivered 15.5% annualized returns over three years on a NAV basis. The fund also brings a long operating history, having previously run for more than a decade as the Akre Focus mutual fund before converting to an ETF in late 2025, giving investors a deeper track record than its recent listing suggests.

More broadly, this portfolio remains heavily anchored in low-cost index exposure, with sizable positions in an S&P 500 tracker, growth ETFs, and dividend strategies. Against that backdrop, a 2% allocation to a focused, non-diversified ETF looks to suggest the fund believes that stock selection can still add value at the margin.

Jonathan Ponciano has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Microsoft and Quanta Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.