Baron Focused Growth Fund (BFGUX)

Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) manufactures purely electric automobiles including a sedan (Model S), a CUV (Model X), mass market sedan (Model 3). In addition, through acquisition and internal development, the company offers energy generation solutions (solar) and battery-based energy storage.
In our view, Tesla could continue to grow its business rapidly at least through 2020. We believe its strong engineer talent pool, first mover advantage, scale with its existing facilities, $5 billion Giga battery plant, expanding production capacity to China and Europe, solar activity, and recognized brand could potentially result in a market capitalization of >$100 billion in two to three years and more thereafter.

CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP) is the leading provider of information and marketing services to the commercial real estate industry.
CoStar has built a proprietary database through primary and data collection research over a 20-year period, creating high barriers to entry. We think the conversion of legacy Loopnet search customers to CoStar suite customers should add $200mm+ of recurring revenue with almost no cost, and we believe the conversion of Loopnet listing customers can be even more material. CoStar has expanded into the apartment space via several acquisitions, and we think it can grow its apartment marketing offerings at a 20% sustainable rate with few incremental costs.

Vail Resorts, Inc. (MTN) is the largest operator of ski resorts in the U.S. It owns 18 resorts in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, including Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado, Whistler Blackcomb in Canada, and Stowe in Vermont. Its RockResorts brand offers luxury ski lodging properties.
Most of Vail's revenues come from its ski resorts. The company has been upgrading its properties to offer new and higher quality services and amenities and summer recreational activities, which we believe should help attract more visitors and allow it to continue to raise lift ticket prices. Vail is also focused on increasing season-pass sales and has been acquiring resorts to enhance the attractiveness of its multi-resort season pass. The company generates strong free cash flow that it is using for increased dividends and debt reduction.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. (H) is a global hospitality company with 754 Hyatt-branded properties representing 190,978 keys. The company's brands include Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt, Hyatt Place, and Hyatt Summerfield Suite.
We believe Hyatt has a significant opportunity to market more of its brands globally, given an undersupply of rooms in developing countries. Compared to its competitors, Hyatt has the least brand penetration across the globe and the largest pipeline of unit growth. We believe its new online availability of rooms and strong balance sheet, coupled with the continued recovery in the global lodging industry, give Hyatt an opportunity to generate strong growth. The resulting potential increased cash flow could be used for continued share repurchases and further acquisitions.

FactSet Research Systems, Inc. (FDS) provides financial information to the global investment community.
FactSet serves only a small part of the addressable market, which we estimate is roughly $20 billion annually. The company has been taking market share and offering broader data sets and more advanced portfolio analytics than its competitors, and has a highly regarded customer service model. FactSet has also been expanding into the fixed income and wealth management markets. Its products are sticky, leading to retention rates of over 95% and high visibility. FactSet generates robust free cash flow, which it has returned to shareholders via share repurchases and dividends.

Iridium Communications Inc. (IRDM) provides mobile voice and data communications services to businesses, governments, and consumers, using a constellation of low- earth orbiting satellites.
We believe Iridium's assets are hard to replicate. They are capital intensive and complex and provide the company with the unique ability to cover the entire globe. The company's recurring voice business is stable and provides steady cash flow. In our view, Aireon, Machine to Machine, and other new products should allow Iridium to substantially grow its cash flow, reduce leverage, and create significant shareholder value over time.

Benefitfocus, Inc. (BNFT) is a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software for consumers, employers, insurance carriers, and brokers. The company offers an integrated suite of solutions to help customers more efficiently shop for, enroll in, manage, and exchange benefits information.
Benefitfocus is modernizing the benefits administration process, resulting in lower health care costs, lower administrative costs, and higher employee satisfaction. The company serves less than 1,000 of 18,000 domestic employers and can continue to sell more modules to existing customers. The company now boasts over 20 million users on its platform, and can help enable insurers reach these potential consumers in a lower-cost, higher-conversion model than traditional brokers. We think the company is scaling well, and margins should expand meaningfully over time.

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (CHH) is one of the largest hotel franchisers in the world, with 6,922 hotels and an additional 1,050 properties under development. Its franchise contracts are long term, with many as long as 20 years. Brands include Quality Inn, Comfort Inn, ComfortSuites, and Sleep Inn.
Choice has a strong franchising business with recurring revenue. It has demonstrated consistent profitability across up and down cycles through increased rates and occupancy, new unit growth, and increased royalty rates. The company has a strong pipeline of new hotel franchises, and is looking to expand the number of upscale brands in its portfolio through acquisitions and new brand creations like Cambria Suites and Ascend Collection. It is also selling its systems to third-party hotels, which we think will generate significant income over time.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPACEX.A) is a private company that designs, manufactures, and launches rockets and spacecrafts into space. SpaceX is aiming to revolutionize space technology, including reusable orbital launch systems.
We believe SpaceX could leverage its unique inventory of reusable rockets to reduce the costs of space launches, capture a growing portion of the available addressable market, and continue to build a track record of success. As launch costs decline, we believe more companies will offer services with space capabilities, increasing the need for rockets. With low launch costs, we expect SpaceX to have an advantage in building its new constellation of satellite-based broadband services.

Manchester United plc (MANU) is an English Premier League professional sports team. The team generates revenue from broadcasting, sponsorship, and licensing.
Manchester United is a global brand with a proven history of success. Our investment is based on our belief that the team will benefit from more robust monetization of its global audience, an estimated fan base of 659 million people; expanding pay TV rights; and new, high margin revenue streams, including global licensing, e-commerce, and subscription services.