Harris Oakmark recently released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for the “Oakmark Fund”. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The objective of the fund is to deliver capital appreciation by investing in a diverse set of large-cap US companies. In the quarter, the Fund (investor class) underperformed the S&P 500 Index, returning 2.45% vs. 15.20% for the index. The industrials and financials contributed to performance at the sector level, while information technology and energy detracted. Investing in AI-benefited enterprises kept market leadership narrow during the quarter. In addition, you can check the Fund’s top five holdings to determine its best picks for 2026.
In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Oakmark Fund highlighted Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) as a newly added position. Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) is a leading diversified financial services company focusing on life insurance, annuities, asset management, and retirement solutions. On July 13, 2026, Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) closed at $47.80 per share. One-month return of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was 5.54%, and its shares lost 7.81% over the past 52 weeks. Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion.
Oakmark Fund stated the following regarding Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) in its Q2 2026 investor update:
“Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) is a U.S.-headquartered diversified financial services company operating across retirement, asset management, and wealth management. The life and retirement industry benefits from recurring, fee-based revenue, scale advantages in distribution, and structural demand from an aging population’s growing reliance on annuity and advisory products. We are drawn to Equitable’s repositioning away from spread-driven insurance earnings toward nonregulated fee businesses, which now places more than half of distributable cash flow in capital-light segments, supported by a management team with a consistent record of returning capital to shareholders. We view the pending merger with Corebridge Financial as a merger of equals with the potential to add scale and to create a leading U.S. retirement, wealth, and asset management franchise, and is expected to be accretive to earnings and cash generation. With the stock at less than 6x our estimate of 2027 distributable cash flow — a valuation we believe understates the earnings quality of the business — we were pleased to initiate a position at a meaningful discount to intrinsic value.”
