Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter for “Artisan Small Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund seeks to invest in companies that possess franchise characteristics, with strong earnings trajectories, and are trading at a discount to the estimated private market value. Despite strong results in 2025, volatility was elevated, and sentiment shifted frequently, influenced by political developments in the US, evolving trade policy rhetoric, changing expectations for monetary policy, and ongoing geopolitical tensions. Against this backdrop, the Fund posted strong absolute returns in the fourth quarter, outperforming both the Russell 2000® Growth Index and the Russell 2000® Index. The portfolio delivered strong results in the quarter across all segments. In contrast, for the full year, the Fund generated strong results but trailed both the indexes. In Q4 2025, the market leadership shifted back to companies with durable profit cycles. Moving to 2026, the firm continues to focus on its proven technique of identifying profit cycles in franchise companies at reasonable valuations. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Small Cap Fund highlighted Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) as one of its leading contributors. Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing therapies for patients with serious and rare diseases. On March 16, 2026, Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) stock closed at $144.60 per share. One-month return of Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) was -3.93%, and its shares gained 87.82% over the past 52 weeks. Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) has a market capitalization of $31.17 billion.
Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Our top contributors in Q4 were MACOM Technology Solutions, Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) and Vita Coco. Insmed is a biotechnology company focused on pulmonary diseases. We exited our position during the quarter due to market cap considerations, though the stock remained a top performer. Its strength was driven by the successful launch of Brinsupri™ (brensocatib), the first approved therapy for non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, which generated $28 million in initial sales from roughly 2,500 patients and 1,700 prescribers, along with a robust pipeline of additional potential therapies.”
