Polen Capital Management remains a strong, primarily equity-focused boutique, and recent efforts have diversified the firm. It earns an Above Average Parent rating.
Polen brings its strengths to bear in its flagship large-growth equity strategy, which accounts for 75% of the firm's USD 60 billion in assets under management. Dan Davidowitz and Damon Ficklin comanage different expressions of the strategy and share similar qualifications, having both spent at least two decades at the firm and both being key owners, along with CEO Stan Moss. The large-growth team is stable and well-staffed, with many who, like Davidowitz and Ficklin, serve as both analysts and portfolio managers.
But the firm isn't stuck in one lane. In 2023, Polen launched its first exchange-traded fund based on the global version of its large-growth equity strategy. Early demand has been modest, but it carries a lower fee than many of the firm's other offerings, a welcome development. In recent years, Polen diversified its business by adding and integrating adjacent capabilities in emerging-markets equities. The firm also continues to grow its credit business, which it acquired in 2021. That piece accounted for USD 7.5 billion in AUM at the end of 2024. In January 2025, Polen lifted out a high-yield team from Aberdeen, and in March 2025, it launched its first collateralized loan obligation vehicle. While these strategies aren't as strong as its large-growth base, and rapid expansion risks stretching the firm too thin, the diversification they bring should help the firm weather periods when large-growth equities are out of favor.
Note: This share class' Parent Pillar rating is analyst-driven, as its Branding Name, Polen Capital (Branding Name ID: BN00000OKL), is covered by Morningstar Manager Research.
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