High Ground Investment Management has posted solid gains this year following its breakout performance in 2025.
The London-based, Europe-focused long-short hedge fund headed by ex–TCI partner Edgar Allen is up 15.39 percent for the year through September after surging 39.41 percent in 2025. It is outperforming the S&P 500 even though it does not own the handful of AI stocks that have powered the stock market indices with outsize gains.
As Institutional Investor previously reported, High Ground, founded in 2019, focuses on investing in a universe of 135 companies in so-called long-cycle industries that have “operational visibility” 25 years into the future and have returns above their cost of capital, among other characteristics. The short portfolio is made up of companies affected by negative secular trends, such as shifts that can permanently impair a good business.
Performance this year has been driven by European financials and U.S. managed health care on the long side, says someone who has seen the results.
Two of High Ground’s seven U.S.-listed common stocks are health care–related. Shares of health insurance giant Humana surged nearly 50 percent in the first nine months of 2026, and health insurer Elevance Health, the largest U.S.-listed long, added 11 percent.
Altogether, High Ground’s five largest long positions account for 45 percent of the long book, and the top ten for 76 percent.
According to High Ground’s August monthly exposure report, the hedge fund was roughly 53 percent net long. Drill down by region, and this exactly reflects the hedge fund’s exposure to Europe, the bulk of which came from the United Kingdom and Ireland and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands. North America was a net zero — 32.6 percent long and 32.6 percent short.
Going by sector, financials received the biggest bet. It had a gross exposure of about 59 percent and a net long exposure of 45.5 percent, spread among banks, capital markets, and insurance. This was followed by industrials, with a gross exposure of 46 percent but a net long exposure of 14.5 percent.
At the end of August, High Ground’s five largest long positions were four financials and one health care company: Ireland-based financial services company AIB Group, British financial services giant Legal & General, Elevance, Bermuda-based insurer Arch Capital Group, and European stock exchange Euronext. AIB, Legal & General, and Arch were top-five holdings heading into 2026.
Allen was previously a partner at Naya Capital Management. Before that, he spent six years at TCI as one of six analysts/partners reporting directly to Chris Hohn. He also worked at BlackRock, Dickson Capital, and Fidelity Investments.
