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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVGO | Broadcom | 18.1% | Trimmed (-66%) | $481.55B |
| GOOGL | Alphabet | 15.4% | Trimmed (-66%) | $409.8B |
| TSM | Taiwan Semiconductor | 12.1% | Trimmed (-66%) | $323.26B |
| IBKR | Interactive Brokers Group | 10.9% | Trimmed (-66%) | $289.33B |
| CBRE | CBRE | 7.7% | Trimmed (-66%) | $204.35B |
| AMAT | Applied Materials | 7.5% | Trimmed (-80%) | $199.35B |
| ICE | Intercontinental Exchange | 6.7% | Trimmed (-66%) | $177.5B |
| SSNC | SS&C Technologies | 5.9% | Trimmed (-46%) | $156.32B |
| FAST | Fastenal | 5.5% | Trimmed (-66%) | $145.36B |
| UBER | Uber | 5.4% | Trimmed (-61%) | $143.19B |
| SPOT | Spotify | 4.9% | NEW | $131.39B |
| PDYPF | Flutter Entertainment | 0.0% | Exited | $-318.77B |
| TME | Tencent Music | 0.0% | Exited | $-199.96B |
| MCO | Moody's | 0.0% | Exited | $-148.98B |
| FLUT | Flutter Entertainment | 0.0% | Exited | $-486.86M |
| ALC | Alcon | 0.0% | Exited | $-224.22M |
| FWONK | Liberty Media | 0.0% | Exited | $-168.15M |
| ORCL | Oracle | 0.0% | Exited | $-167.75M |
| LPLA | LPL Financial | 0.0% | Exited | $-131.82M |
Current Investment Strategy
William von Mueffling's Cantillon Capital Management continued its disciplined, long-only approach in Q1 2026, running a concentrated $15 billion global equity portfolio anchored in high-quality compounders — led by core positions in technology and financial infrastructure names such as Broadcom, Alphabet, S&P Global, Taiwan Semiconductor, and Interactive Brokers — while prioritizing companies with durable economic moats, strong free cash flow generation, and pricing power. The firm's Q1 activity underscored a continued pivot toward capital-markets and data-driven platform businesses, initiating a new ~$213 million stake in Spotify and fully exiting positions in Flutter Entertainment, Tencent Music, Moody's, and Alcon, reflecting von Mueffling's selective rotation away from gaming, entertainment, and healthcare names toward franchises with scalable, subscription-driven revenue streams and sustainable competitive advantages.
New Investments
Spotify SPOT
William Alexander von Mueffling bought $131.39B of Spotify in Q1 2026. Over the past two quarters spanning Q1-Q2 2025, Spotify has demonstrated declining overall profitability despite maintaining EPS beat momentum, with net income falling 141% quarter-over-quarter while consistently delivering 16%+ earnings surprises, indicating the company is managing per-share metrics through cost discipline and share buybacks rather than bottom-line growth. The stock has declined 35.02% over the past year as the market repriced the company amid margin pressure and slowing revenue growth, though the current valuation of P/E 33.84 now trades 11.8% below the market average, creating a more attractive entry point for investors. Despite near-term profitability challenges including a revenue miss in Q2 and negative net income, analyst sentiment remains constructive with projected earnings growth of 23.57% next year, suggesting upside potential if management can stabilize margins and reignite subscriber monetization.
- EPS beat consensus by 16.14% in Q2 2025 with quarterly earnings of $3.99 versus $3.43 expected, though revenue of $4.94B missed estimate of $5.02B.
- Net income declined 141% quarter-over-quarter, turning negative at $97.55M in Q2 2025 compared to $236.80M profit in Q1 2025.
- Stock down 35.02% from 52-week high but currently trades at P/E 33.84, an 11.8% discount to market average, with expected earnings growth of 23.57% through next year.
Added, Trimmed, and Exited
Added
Cantillon did not add to any existing positions in Q1 2026.
What it means: With no incremental buying into existing holdings, William Alexander von Mueffling appears to have been in a decisively risk-reducing mode this quarter rather than expressing conviction through position building.
Trimmed
Cantillon trimmed 10 existing positions, cutting shares by roughly two-thirds across the board in Interactive Brokers Group (IBKR), Fastenal (FAST), Uber (UBER), Broadcom (AVGO), CBRE (CBRE), Alphabet (GOOGL), Applied Materials (AMAT), Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), SS&C Technologies (SSNC), and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM).
What it means: The near-uniform ~66% reduction across virtually every remaining holding is a striking and unusual pattern — this is less likely to reflect individual stock-level conviction changes and more suggestive of a portfolio-wide structural event, such as significant investor redemptions or a deliberate strategy to concentrate the portfolio into fewer, higher-conviction names. The breadth of cuts spanning financials, technology, industrials, and semiconductors reinforces that this was a top-down decision rather than sector rotation. Applied Materials (AMAT) stood out as trimmed even more aggressively at roughly 80%, possibly signaling additional concern around the semiconductor equipment cycle.
Exited
Cantillon fully exited eight positions: Flutter Entertainment (PDYPF), Tencent Music (TME), Moody's (MCO), Flutter Entertainment (FLUT), Alcon (ALC), Liberty Media (FWONK), Oracle (ORCL), and LPL Financial (LPLA).
What it means: The exits span a remarkably diverse set of industries — online gambling (Flutter Entertainment), music streaming (Tencent Music), credit ratings (Moody's), ophthalmology (Alcon), sports media (Liberty Media), enterprise software (Oracle), and wealth management (LPL Financial) — making it difficult to attribute the liquidations to a single thematic view. The complete exit from both share classes of Flutter Entertainment is particularly notable given its size. Combined with the sweeping trims, these exits point to a significant portfolio restructuring at Cantillon, with capital being freed up broadly rather than rotated into a specific new theme — the sole new addition this quarter being Spotify (SPOT).
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.
