Breaking down the stocks William Alexander von Mueffling (Cantillon) bought, sold, and held in Q1 2026, including their holdings at the end of the quarter. All data sourced from Cantillon's 13F filed on May 07, 2026.
Who are William von Mueffling and Cantillon Capital Management?
Cantillon Capital Management is a global equity investment firm founded in 2003 by William von Mueffling, who previously achieved prominence at Lazard Asset Management for his prescient bearish stance during the dot-com bubble. Managing over $14 billion in assets, Cantillon employs a fundamental, research-intensive approach focused on high-quality companies with sustainable competitive advantages and strong free cash flow generation. Von Mueffling's disciplined investment process emphasizes capital preservation alongside long-term growth, resulting in a strong track record of risk-adjusted returns.
Cantillon.com
Wikipedia on William Alexander von Mueffling
Q1 '26 13F filed with SEC
Holdings in Q1 2026
| Ticker | Company | Weight | Change | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcom | 8.3% | Trimmed (-12%) | $1.26B | |
| Alphabet | 7.1% | Trimmed (-12%) | $1.07B | |
| TSMC | 5.6% | Trimmed (-12%) | $842.7M | |
| Interactive Brokers | 5.0% | Trimmed (-12%) | $754.26M | |
| Analog Devices | 4.0% | Trimmed (-12%) | $608.12M | |
| CBRE | 3.5% | Trimmed (-12%) | $532.63M | |
| Applied Materials | 3.5% | Trimmed (-49%) | $520.15M | |
| Intercontinental Exchange | 3.1% | Trimmed (-12%) | $462.71M | |
| Ferguson | 2.7% | Trimmed (-12%) | $408.04M | |
| Fastenal | 2.5% | Trimmed (-12%) | $378.93M | |
| Live Nation | 2.5% | Trimmed (-12%) | $375.95M | |
| Agilent Technologies | 2.1% | Trimmed (-12%) | $312.97M | |
| Yum Brands | 1.9% | Trimmed (-12%) | $281.7M | |
| Tradeweb | 1.9% | Trimmed (-12%) | $278.51M | |
| Entegris | 1.7% | Trimmed (-12%) | $253.99M | |
| Ss&C Tech Hldgs | 1.7% | NEW | $253.6M | |
| Spotify | 1.4% | NEW | $213.05M | |
| Alcon Ag | 1.3% | Trimmed (-12%) | $188.91M | |
| Oracle | 1.3% | Added (+49%) | $188.77M | |
| Flutter | 0.9% | Trimmed (-39%) | $140.26M | |
| Tencent Music | 0.8% | Trimmed (-28%) | $124.19M | |
| Liberty Media | 0.6% | Trimmed (-39%) | $88.05M | |
| SSNC | SS&C Technologies | 0.0% | Exited | $-372.28M |
Current Investment Strategy
William von Mueffling's Cantillon Capital Management stuck to its long-only, quality-growth playbook in Q1 2026, running a concentrated $15 billion global equity book anchored by core positions in Broadcom, Alphabet, Taiwan Semiconductor, Interactive Brokers and S&P Global—firms prized for durable moats, pricing power and strong free-cash-flow generation. The firm trimmed its biggest winners such as Broadcom to lock in gains and cut stakes in Alphabet, Taiwan Semiconductor and S&P Global, while rotating into data-driven platform businesses with a fresh roughly $213 million bet on Spotify and additions to Uber, Equifax, Canadian Pacific and Oracle, even as it exited legacy names including SS&C Technologies.
New Investments
Ss&C Tech Hldgs
William Alexander von Mueffling bought $253.6M of Ss&C Tech Hldgs in Q1 2026. The firm added exposure as the company delivered a record current quarter, with Q2 2026 GAAP revenue up 10.3% year over year to about $1.70 billion, adjusted organic revenue growth of 7.6%, and record adjusted EBITDA of $670.7 million at a 39.5% margin, driving adjusted diluted EPS to $1.76 (up 18.1%). Growth has accelerated versus the prior quarter—Q1 2026 revenue grew 8.7% year over year to $1.65 billion with 5.0% organic growth—while over the last 12 months the stock has delivered a roughly 32% total return, supported by consistent high-single-digit organic growth and high-30s EBITDA margins that stack up well against many scaled financial software and services providers (based on industry margin ranges rather than a specific peer set). Recent catalysts that could further increase value include raised full-year 2026 guidance for revenue, EPS, EBITDA and operating cash flow, the largest-ever quarterly buyback (6.4 million shares for $435.2 million, part of $499.2 million returned to shareholders), and continued investment in AI, digital assets and healthcare platforms, positioning the company to capture ongoing demand for outsourced fund administration, wealth technology and healthcare solutions.
- Q2 2026 GAAP revenue rose 10.3% year over year to $1,695.7 million, with adjusted revenue of $1,696.9 million and adjusted organic revenue growth of 7.6%..
- Q2 2026 adjusted diluted EPS increased 18.1% year over year to $1.76, while GAAP diluted EPS was $0.97, up 34.7%..
- For the first six months of 2026, operating cash flow reached $716.4 million (up 11.1% vs. the prior-year period) and capital returns totaled $499.2 million, including a record 6.4 million shares repurchased for $435.2 million..
Spotify
William Alexander von Mueffling bought $213.05M of Spotify in Q1 2026. Over the last 12 months, shares are down about 30%, though they have recovered with a ~9% gain over the past six months and a 13% rise over the last three months, leaving them still roughly 15% below January levels despite improving fundamentals. In the current quarter (Q2 2026), the company delivered strong operating performance: revenue grew 15% year over year on a constant-currency basis to about €4.8B, gross margin reached a record 33.4%, operating income was €655M and free cash flow €797M, while net income came in at €545M and MAUs reached 777M with Premium subscribers hitting around 300M. However, Q2 earnings modestly missed consensus (adjusted EPS €2.61 vs €2.76 expected and revenue €4.78B vs €4.79B), and the stock sold off following both Q2 results and earlier soft Q2 guidance (including operating income guidance of €630M vs €684M consensus and Premium subs guidance of 299M vs 300.29M), as investors weigh elevated marketing and AI spending, prior restructuring actions such as price increases and cost cuts, and ongoing pressure in the ads business; in our view, if these investments drive sustained mid‑teens revenue growth and durable margin expansion, the combination of record profitability and subscriber scale over the last two quarters could act as a catalyst for a re‑rating of the shares (this forward‑looking assessment is our interpretation of current trends rather than explicit company guidance).
- Q2 2026 revenue grew 15% year over year on a constant-currency basis to €4.8B..
- Q2 2026 gross margin was 33.4%, with operating income of €655M and free cash flow of €797M..
- Q2 2026 net income was €545M, with total MAUs reaching 777M and Premium subscribers around 300M..
Added, Trimmed, and Exited
Added
Cantillon added modestly to only one existing holding, increasing its stake in Oracle by roughly 422,508 shares (from 860,677 to 1,283,185 shares), a position that also gained about 12.5% in value.
What it means: With Oracle as the lone addition amid a broad wave of trimming elsewhere, this looks like a selective conviction add rather than a portfolio-wide repositioning. It suggests Cantillon sees continued upside in Oracle's cloud infrastructure and enterprise software growth even as it pares back exposure to many other large-cap tech and services names, signaling a preference for Oracle's risk/reward profile relative to peers in the current environment.
Trimmed
Cantillon trimmed a large number of existing positions this quarter, with the most significant reductions in Tencent Music (down 5.3M shares, -62.1% in value), Flutter (down 888K shares, -71.2% in value), Interactive Brokers (down 1.5M shares, -8.1% in value), and Applied Materials (down 1.45M shares, -31.9% in value), alongside smaller trims to Fastenal, Liberty Media, Broadcom, CBRE, Alphabet, Intercontinental Exchange, Agilent Technologies, Alcon Ag, TSMC, Live Nation, Tradeweb, Entegris, Analog Devices, Yum Brands, and Ferguson.
What it means: The breadth of these trims—spanning semiconductors, fintech, gaming, and consumer names—combined with a roughly 18.6% decline in total portfolio value quarter-over-quarter (from $18.49B to $15.05B), points to a broad de-risking or profit-taking exercise rather than isolated stock-specific concerns. The steep value declines in names like Tencent Music and Flutter suggest Cantillon may be reducing exposure to positions that have underperformed or face heightened volatility, while smaller trims in higher-quality compounders like Broadcom and Alphabet could reflect valuation discipline or reallocation toward the fund's highest-conviction ideas, such as the new stakes in Ss&C Tech Hldgs and Spotify.
Exited
Cantillon fully exited its position in SS&C Technologies (4,258,493 shares valued at $372.3M as of the prior filing), even as it simultaneously initiated a new position in Ss&C Tech Hldgs worth $253.6M this quarter.
What it means: This is a notable case where the sale of the original CUSIP-based holding was effectively replaced by a smaller stake in the same company reported under a different issuer identifier, resulting in a net reduction of exposure to SS&C of roughly $118.7M (about 32% smaller). Given SS&C's strong fundamentals disclosed in Q2 2026—including 10.3% revenue growth and record EBITDA margins—this looks less like a loss of conviction and more like a deliberate scaling back of position size, possibly to fund new opportunities like Spotify or to manage overall portfolio concentration.
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.
