Brad Schatz's Trades and Holdings in Q1 2026

Breaking down the stocks Brad Schatz (Maren Capital) bought, sold, and held in Q1 2026, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Maren Capital's 13F filed on May 14, 2026.

Who are Brad Schatz and Maren Capital?

Brad Schatz is the founder, chief executive officer, and chief investment officer of Maren Capital LLC (commonly referred to as Maren Capital). The fund is known for its concentrated portfolio, typically consisting of 20-25 stocks, with the top 10 holdings comprising approximately 80% of assets, and significant cash holdings when attractive opportunities are scarce. His investment strategy is a fundamental value investing approach inspired by long-term compounding principles, emphasizing small- and mid-cap companies that can grow intrinsic value over extended periods. Schatz focuses on underfollowed, undervalued businesses with strong qualitative factors like high returns on capital, durable competitive advantages, quality management, reinvestment opportunities, and the ability to compound capital sustainably through economic cycles.

Marencapital.com
Q1 '26 13F filed with SEC

Holdings in Q1 2026

Current Investment Strategy

Chicago-based Maren Capital, run by founder Brad Schatz, entered the second quarter of 2026 with a tightly concentrated, quality-compounder portfolio anchored by payments duopoly holdings Mastercard and Visa, while adding broad diversification through a new stake in the State Street SPDR S&P MidCap 400 ETF after exiting Idex, the S&P MidCap 400 ETF (MDY), and Berkshire Hathaway. The moves reflect Schatz's disciplined, low-turnover value philosophy of favoring durable, high-return businesses with strong competitive moats, using index exposure and cash as flexible placeholders when compelling single-stock opportunities are scarce.

New Investments

State Str Spdr S&P Midcap 40

Brad Schatz bought $594.56K of State Str Spdr S&P Midcap 40 in Q1 2026. Over the last two quarters, the fund has moved from a modest single‑digit gain implied in Q1 2026 to a very strong total return of about 14.46% in Q2 2026, driving a 17.31% year‑to‑date gain as of 06/30/2026 and keeping performance broadly in line with the S&P MidCap 400 index. In the current quarter, returns have consolidated somewhat, with YTD performance easing to approximately 15.85% and 1‑year returns at about 24.01% as of 08/04/2026, indicating the fund is experiencing normal mid‑cap volatility while remaining solidly positive over the past year. Over the last 12 months the fund’s roughly 24–26% total return is consistent with broad strength in U.S. mid‑cap equities—reflected in the S&P MidCap 400 index’s 17.97% YTD and 20.62% 1‑year gains—and, based on typical drivers for mid‑cap index ETFs, continued earnings resilience and a stable interest‑rate backdrop should be key catalysts for further value appreciation.

• Q2 2026 total return 14.46%; YTD return 17.31% as of 06/30/2026..
• Trailing 1‑year returns between 24.01% (as of 08/04/2026) and 25.83% (as of 06/30/2026), indicating strong performance over the last 12 months..
• Risk metrics: beta 1.01, 3‑year standard deviation 17.65%, and 52‑week price range $54.57–$67.56..

Added, Trimmed, and Exited

Added

Maren Capital added to eight existing positions this quarter, most notably increasing shares in Copart (+267,616 shares), Heico (+134,630 shares), RLI (+87,837 shares), and Arch Capital (+43,276 shares), while also building out smaller stakes in Kinsale Capital Group, Linde, Ametek, and Teledyne.
What it means: The largest share add came in Copart even as the position posted a -4.9% return this quarter, suggesting Schatz used the pullback to add to a name he already views as undervalued rather than chase strength. Meanwhile, the fund's relatively smaller share adds to Linde and Teledyne came alongside outsized quarterly gains (23.4% and 19.0%, respectively), indicating conviction to keep adding to winners rather than trimming into strength—consistent with Maren's stated philosophy of compounding through quality, durable-moat businesses.

Trimmed

Eight positions were trimmed, led by a sizable reduction in Canadian Pacific (-227,187 shares), with smaller cuts to Berkley, Amphenol Corp, RBC Bearings, Graco, Hingham Institution for Savings, Simpson Manufacturing, and Progressive.
What it means: The steep cut to Canadian Pacific, which also posted a -12.2% return, points to a genuine reduction in conviction or a source-of-funds trim rather than pure rebalancing. Notably, RBC Bearings was trimmed by share count yet still saw its dollar value climb nearly 19% on price appreciation, showing Maren is willing to take some profits off strong performers even while remaining invested—a disciplined, valuation-sensitive approach to position sizing rather than an outright bearish shift.

Exited

Maren fully exited three positions: Idex (~$38.26M), S&P MidCap 400 (SPDR MDY, ~$581.6K), and Berkshire Hathaway (~$233.7K).
What it means: The $38M exit from Idex is the standout move, representing meaningful capital redeployment likely toward higher-conviction industrial and specialty holdings like Linde and Teledyne. The S&P MidCap 400 sale is less consequential than it appears—Maren simultaneously initiated an almost identical, same-share-count new position in State Str Spdr S&P Midcap 40, suggesting a lateral swap between similar mid-cap index ETFs (likely for cost, liquidity, or tracking reasons) rather than a view on mid-cap equities broadly. The small Berkshire Hathaway exit appears to be a minor cash-management move given its negligible size relative to the overall portfolio.

Disclaimer: All posts are for informational purposes only. They are NOT a recommendation to buy or sell the securities discussed. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing your money.