Peconic Partners, the New York-based hedge fund run by veteran investor Bill Harnisch, delivered a 79% return in 2025 despite maintaining a cautious macro outlook and low net exposure throughout the year, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The $3.1bn equity-focused fund generated the performance by concentrating more than 90% of its long book in just three infrastructure-related stocks – Quanta Services, Dycom Industries and MasTec. The companies provide power-line construction, fibre networks and related services that support rising demand from artificial intelligence, broadband expansion and clean energy investment.
While many hedge fund peers diversified exposure across large-cap technology stocks and macro-driven trades, Harnisch focused on company-specific fundamentals, expressing limited conviction on broader economic trends. Net leverage remained low as the manager retained a defensive stance on the outlook for US growth and equity markets.
The strategy proved effective during periods of market volatility. Peconic gained around 20% in November alone, according to Harnisch, as Dycom shares surged more than 25% and MasTec and Quanta also advanced. Each of the three core holdings has risen more than 45% over the year.
Harnisch, who founded Peconic in 2004, said he remains cautious heading into 2026, forecasting flat to lower returns for the S&P 500. The view contrasts with consensus expectations among Wall Street strategists for continued equity market gains.
Peconic employs short positions both as portfolio hedges and as relative-value trades. Current shorts include selected retailers, reflecting concerns over margin pressure from aggressive pricing by larger competitors, as well as industrial stocks such as GE Vernova, Eaton and Comfort Systems, which the fund views as more vulnerable in a broader market downturn.
The strong performance marks Peconic’s fifth year of outperformance versus the S&P 500 in the past six years.
