MLN – December 2025 monthly update

1
A WORD FROM THE MANAGER
Marlin’s gross performance return for November was -0.7%,
while the adjusted NAV return was -1.0%. This compared with
our global benchmark, S&P Large Mid Cap/S&P Small Cap Index
(50% hedged to NZD), which was +0.5%.
Market Environment
Global markets were largely flat in November, but there was a lot
of rotation under the hood. A strong earnings season in the US
was offset by the uncertain impact on economic growth created
by the prolonged US government shutdown and a sell-off in
heavyweight technology companies.
The third-quarter earnings season was strong, with 81% of
companies in the US S&P 500 Index beating expectations with
earnings growth of 13% year-over-year. Technology companies
were particularly strong, with earnings growth expectations for
2025 for the Magnificent Seven increasing to more than 20%
compared to 15% only seven months ago. Despite strong results,
the US market only rose 0.2% in November as doubts about high
valuations and optimistic profit expectations in the AI ecosystem
limited further gains. Technology stocks underperformed defensive
sectors such as healthcare, which is a reversal in the wider trend
seen throughout the year.
Portfolio
The past few months have reminded us how rapidly sentiment
toward stocks can change, even when the underlying earnings
power of the business is stable. All three of our top performers this
month had been detractors from performance in prior months.
Alphabet (+14%) continued its recent performance into
November as it is increasingly seen as a leader in the AI race,
with dominant positions across the whole AI value chain. This
month, Google launched Gemini 3, its latest artificial intelligence
model, to high acclaim – with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff
singing its praises. This model was trained using Google’s internal
semiconductor chips (or TPUs), creating a possible alternative to
Nvidia GPUs in some use cases. And with companies including
Meta and Anthropic both signing deals to use Google’s TPUs this
creates a further revenue tailwind for the business. That said, we
appreciate that the AI market is a dynamic and fast-moving space
and have reduced our position size given the outperformance.
Intuitive Surgical (+7%) had another strong month, following
a 22% gain in October. Intuitive had been underperforming on
concerns over hospital spending and procedure growth, but
strong earnings results put those concerns to rest. Procedure
volumes are still growing 17% per annum, twenty-six years after
the first Intuitive surgical robot was sold in 1999, highlighting the
large growth runway for surgical robotics. However, following a
33% gain since the October lows, we have reduced our position
size.
Dexcom (+9%) bounced back this month, following
underperformance in October on continued execution issues,
compounded by conservative earnings guidance for 2026.
Dexcom has been through a period of growing pains over the last
18 months as it builds out manufacturing and salesforce capacity
to meet the high demand for continuous glucose monitors.
While the company is moving past these issues, with a new CEO
starting in 2026; and the current CEO on medical leave, we felt it
was prudent to slightly reduce our position size. Our medium-term
view on Dexcom remains positive – operating in an effective two-
player market with high barriers to entry, a long runway for growth
as it begins selling to the large Type-2 non-insulin using diabetic
market: and an ability to save real costs for health systems at a
time when government healthcare spend is under scrutiny.
Zoetis (-11%) fell as earnings came in below expectations,
with the company facing a combination of macroeconomic and
competitive headwinds. While two competitive product launches
in the last twelve months have been a headwind, actual market
share losses have been limited. However, Zoetis’s new flagship
pain drug Librela is facing slower-than-expected growth given
social media concerns around safety (despite positive data from
real-world outcomes); and with increasing macroeconomic
headwinds, near-term growth is below our original expectations,
and we have reduced our position size. With a steady pipeline of
new drugs and an eventual return to growth in wider vet visits, we
expect growth to accelerate in the medium term.
Salesforce (-11%) was caught up in a wider software sell-off,
with the S&P 500 Application Software index off 9% for the month
on AI disruption fears that have troubled the sector this year.
Sentiment on application software companies has turned negative
as investors worry that AI will displace traditional enterprise
software, even as software companies like Salesforce are showing
1
Share Price Discount to NAV (using the net asset value per share, after expenses, fees and tax, to four decimal places).
MONTHLY UPDATE
December 2025
as at 30 November 2025
SHARE PRICE
$
0.94
DISCOUNT
1
1. 6
%

MLN NAV
$
0.9 5

2
KEY DETAILS
as at 30 November 2025
FUND TYPE
Listed Investment Company
INVESTS IN
Growing international companies
LISTING DATE
1 October 2007
FINANCIAL YEAR END
30 June
TYPICAL PORTFOLIO
SIZE
20-35 stocks
INVESTMENT CRITERIA
Long-term growth
PERFORMANCE
OBJECTIVE
Long-term growth of capital and
dividends
TAX STATUS
Portfolio Investment Entity (PIE)
MANAGER
Fisher Funds Management Limited
MANAGEMENT FEE RATE
1.25% of gross asset value
(reduced by 0.10% for every
1% of underperformance
relative to the change in the
NZ 90 Day Bank Bill Index
with a floor of 0.75%)
PERFORMANCE FEE
HURDLE
Changes in the NZ 90 Day Bank
Bill Index + 5%
PERFORMANCE FEE
10% of returns in excess of
benchmark and high-water mark
HIGH WATER MARK
$0.91
PERFORMANCE FEE CAP
1.25%
SHARES ON ISSUE
225m
MARKET CAPITALISATION
$211m
GEARING
None (maximum permitted 20% of
gross asset value)
good early progress in its own AI initiative called Agentforce;
and as the company has not seen any real impact on company
earnings. Despite Salesforce’s share price being off 30% this year,
analyst’s expectations for earnings in the next couple of years are
effectively unchanged.
Amazon (-5%) has given back its outperformance post earnings
last month. Amazon was partly caught up in the wider tech selloff
in recent weeks but also faced questions around its AI offerings in
the face of Alphabet’s strong AI showing. We are more positive,
with Amazon’s AWS cloud business seeing growth accelerate in
the latest quarter and deals with Anthropic and OpenAI supporting
further growth. Amazon’s own internal AI chip (Trainium-2) is
SECTOR SPLIT
as at 30 November 2025
GEOGRAPHICAL SPLIT
as at 30 November 2025
Sam Dickie
Senior Portfolio Manager
Fisher Funds Management Limited
starting to gain acceptance with companies like Anthropic,
growing +150% in 3Q, and already a multi-billion-dollar business.
While facing some delays in the launch of the third-generation
Trainium chip, we anticipate the improved performance of the new
chip will drive further acceptance and revenue growth.
Health Care26%
Information Technology24%
Consumer Discretionary15%
Financials13%
Communication Services12%
Industrial5%
Cash & Derivatives3%
Consumer Staples2%
North America79%
Western Europe14%
Asia Pacific7%

3
NOVEMBER’S SIGNIFICANT RETURNS IMPACTING
THE PORTFOLIO during the month in local currency
ALPHABET
+14
%
DEXCOM
+9
%
ZOETIS
-11
%
NVIDIA
-11
%
5 LARGEST PORTFOLIO POSITIONS as at 30 November 2025
AMAZON
7
%
MICROSOFT
7
%
MASTERCARD
6
%
META PLATFORMS
6
%
DANAHER CORP
5
%
The remaining portfolio is made up of another 22 stocks and cash.
PERFORMANCE to 30 November 2025
1 Month3 Months1 Year3 Years
(annualised)
5 Years
(annualised)
Company Performance
Total Shareholder Return(1.6%)(5.6%)+10.2%+8.4%+1.2%
Adjusted NAV Return(1.0%)+1.5%+1.0%+11.8%+5.1%
Portfolio Performance
Gross Performance Return (0.7%)+2.2%+3.5%+14.7%+7.6%
Benchmark Index^+0.5%+6.4%+16.3%+17.4%+12.7%
^Benchmark index: S&P Large Mid Cap/S&P Small Cap Index (50% hedged to NZD)
Non-GAAP Financial Information
Marlin uses non-GAAP measures, including adjusted net asset value, adjusted NAV return, gross performance return and total shareholder return. The rationale for using such non-GAAP measures is as follows:
»adjusted net asset value – the underlying value of the investment portfolio adjusted for dividends (and other capital management initiatives) and after expenses, fees, and tax,
»adjusted NAV return – the percentage change in the adjusted NAV,
»gross performance return – the Manager’s portfolio performance in terms of stock selection and currency hedging before expenses, fees and tax, and
»total shareholder return – the return combines the share price performance, the warrant price performance, the net value of converting any warrants into shares, and the dividends paid to shareholders. It
assumes all dividends are reinvested in the company’s dividend reinvestment plan, and that shareholders exercise their warrants, (if they were in the money) at warrant expiry date.
All references to adjusted net asset value, adjusted NAV return, gross performance return and total shareholder return in this monthly update are to such non-GAAP measures. The calculations applied to non-GAAP
measures are described in the Marlin Non-GAAP Financial Information Policy. A copy of the policy is available at marlin.co.nz/about-marlin/marlin-policies.
SALESFORCE
-13
%
TOTAL SHAREHOLDER RETURN to 30 November 2025
Share Price/Total Shareholder Return
$5.00
$4.00
$3.00
$2.00
$1.00
$0.00
Share Price Total Shareholder Return
Nov
2007
Nov
2011
Nov
2013
Nov
2014
Nov
2015
Nov
2008
Nov
2009
Nov
2010
Nov
2016
Nov
2020
Nov
2012
Nov
2022
Nov
2017
Nov
2018
Nov
2019
Nov
2021
Nov
2023
Nov
2024
Nov
2025

Disclaimer: The information in this update has been prepared as at the date noted on the front page. The information has been prepared as a general summary of the matters covered only, and it is by necessity
brief. The information and opinions are based upon sources which are believed to be reliable, but Marlin Global Limited and its officers and directors make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness.
The update is not intended to constitute professional or investment advice and should not be relied upon in making any investment decisions. Professional financial advice from a financial adviser should be
taken before making an investment. To the extent that the update contains data relating to the historical performance of Marlin Global Limited or its portfolio companies, please note that fund performance can
and will vary and that future results have no correlation with results historically achieved.
Marlin Global Limited
Private Bag 93502, Takapuna, Auckland 0740
Phone: +64 9 484 0365
Email: enquire@marlin.co.nz | www.marlin.co.nz
4
Computershare Investor Services Limited
Private Bag 92119, Auckland 1142
Phone: +64 9 488 8777
Email: enquiry@computershare.co.nz | www.computershare.com/nz
ABOUT
MARLIN GLOBAL
Marlin is an investment company
listed on the New Zealand Stock
Exchange. The company gives
shareholders an opportunity to
invest in a diversified portfolio of
between 20 and 35 quality growing
international companies (excluding
New Zealand and Australia) through
a single, professionally managed
investment. The aim of Marlin
is to offer investors competitive
returns through capital growth and
dividends.
CAPITAL MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Regular Dividends
»Quarterly distribution policy introduced in August 2010
»Under this policy, 2% of average NAV is targeted to be
paid to shareholders quarterly
»Dividends paid by Marlin may include dividends received,
interest income, investment gains and/or return of capital
»Shareholders who prefer to have increased capital rather
than a regular income stream have the opportunity to
participate in the company’s dividend reinvestment plan
(DRP)
»Shares issued to DRP participants are at a 3% discount
to market price
»Marlin became a portfolio investment entity on 1 October
2007. As a result, dividends paid to New Zealand tax
resident shareholders have not been subject to further tax
Share Buyback Programme
»Marlin has a buyback programme in place allowing it (if it
elects to do so) to acquire its shares on market
»Shares bought back by the company are held as treasury
stock
»Shares held as treasury stock are available to be utilised
for the dividend reinvestment plan
Warrants
»Warrants put Marlin in a better position to grow further,
operate efficiently, and pursue other capital structure
initiatives as appropriate
»A warrant is the right, not the obligation, to purchase an
ordinary share in Marlin at a fixed price on a fixed date
»There are currently no Marlin warrants on issue

MANAGEMENT
The Manager has authority delegated to
it from the Board to invest according to
the Management Agreement and other
written policies. Marlin’s portfolio is
managed by Fisher Funds Management
Limited. Sam Dickie (Senior Portfolio
Manager), Chris Waters (Senior
Investment Analyst), and Charles
Barty (Investment Analyst) have prime
responsibility for managing the Marlin
portfolio. Together they have significant
combined experience and are very
capable of researching and investing
in the quality global companies that
Marlin targets. Fisher Funds is based in
Takapuna, Auckland.

BOARD
The Board of Marlin comprises
independent directors Andy
Coupe (Chair), Carol Campbell,
David McClatchy, Fiona Oliver
and Dan Coman.