Fundsmith Adds Yum! Brands to Equity Fund Portfolio

Fundsmith, a London-based investment management firm, added Yum! Brands, Inc. to its Fundsmith Equity Fund during the second quarter of 2026. In its Q2 investor letter, the firm highlighted the restaurant operator's scale in purchasing and marketing, as well as a rapid global expansion pace that sees a new restaurant open roughly every two hours.

Fundsmith noted that Yum! Brands is selling Pizza Hut, describing the brand as a significant drag on overall results. The investment firm indicated that future growth for the company relies on aggressive franchise expansion in emerging markets, the improvement of digital ordering systems, and the growth of KFC in the United States and Taco Bell internationally.

Separately, the Fundsmith Equity Fund reported a -2.9% return for the first half of 2026. The firm attributed this underperformance relative to the MSCI World Index to a market environment dominated by AI speculation and passive index funds.