TCI Fund Management, the London-based hedge fund manager led by Chris Hohn, gained 1% in October as it continued to recover from a difficult start to 2026, although the firm's concentrated equity portfolio remains in negative territory for the year, according to the Institutional Investor.
The latest performance contrasts with TCI's exceptional results in 2025, when the firm returned 27.8% and generated $18.9bn in profits for investors, the largest annual profit recorded by a hedge fund manager, according to LCH Investments. Hohn personally earned an estimated $4.9bn during the year.
Performance weakened considerably in the first quarter of 2026, when TCI lost 9.4%, including an 11.9% decline in March following the outbreak of the Iran war. The October gain leaves the fund approximately 2% down for 2026, with two months remaining.
Once better known for its activist campaigns, TCI has developed into a highly concentrated equity investment platform with significant exposure to US and European-listed companies. Its US stock portfolio was valued at approximately $53bn at the end of the second quarter and contained just 11 holdings.
GE Aerospace remained the largest position, accounting for roughly one-third of the portfolio through a $17.7bn stake. TCI is the aircraft engine manufacturer's fourth-largest shareholder. Visa represented approximately 20% of US assets, while Moody's and S&P Global each accounted for more than 13%.
The portfolio also included Alphabet, although TCI had exited its remaining Microsoft shares during the second quarter after selling most of its position earlier in the year.
The manager added building materials companies Martin Marietta Materials and Vulcan Materials during the quarter. The two investments together represented less than 3% of its US-listed assets.
Outside the US, TCI has maintained exposure to European infrastructure and industrial companies. In late October, it increased its stake in Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial to approximately 13%, according to TradingView data. The company operates toll roads across the US, Canada and Europe.
TCI also remains a longstanding shareholder in French aerospace and defence group Safran, construction and concessions company Vinci, and Spanish airport operator Aena.
The October recovery provides some relief following the fund's first-quarter losses, but its performance illustrates the challenges facing highly concentrated equity portfolios during periods of geopolitical uncertainty and significant market rotation.
