Investment management company Vulcan Value Partners recently released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The firm focuses on improving long-term returns and lowering risk, rather than short-term results. In the quarter, the Large Cap Composite (Net) returned -14.1%, the Small Cap Composite (Net) returned -6.8%, the Focus Composite (Net) returned -19.1%, the Focus Plus Composite (Net) returned -19.1% as well as the All-Cap Composite (Net) returned -13.5%. Throughout 2025 and escalating to the first quarter of 2026, the market is experiencing heightened volatility related to AI’s potential, leading to mispricing of some strong companies. The current market turbulence presents opportunities for long-term investors willing to accept short-term volatility in stable-valued companies and improve the margin of safety. The letter identified businesses into three groups with perceived /real AI disruption risk: Software, Alternative Asset Managers, and indirectly impacted businesses. The firm highlights that its investment strategy aims to leverage this volatility to reduce risk and increase returns in the long term. In addition, please check the Firm’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Vulcan Value Partners highlighted TransUnion (NYSE:TRU). Vulcan Value Partners added TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) to its Small Cap, Focus and Focus Plus strategies during the quarter. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) is a leading consumer credit reporting agency. On April 22, 2026, TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) closed at $73.99 per share. One-month return of TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) was 8.43%, and its shares lost 10.28% over the past 52 weeks. TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion.
Vulcan Value Partners stated the following regarding TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“We purchased four positions during the quarter: Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc., TransUnion (NYSE:TRU), StandardAero, Inc., and CTS Eventim. TransUnion is one of the three leading credit bureaus in the US. Over 95,000 lending institutions self-report their consumer lending and payment data to TransUnion. That data is then aggregated as a credit report and credit score and sold back to lenders to evaluate the creditworthiness of borrowers. The combined revenue that the three credit bureaus generate from selling mission critical proprietary credit data accounts for just three basis points of total US household debt of $19 trillion.
TransUnion has also used its existing data on consumers to expand into new verticals, including marketing, fraud, identity verification, insurance and tenant screening. The company has evolved from being solely a credit bureau to being a global data and analytics company. Depressed volumes in mortgage lending, as well as investor concerns over AI disruption, have weighed on the stock price, giving us an opportunity to own its shares…” (Click here to read the full text)
