Behind the Ticker: BCTK Baron Capital

Brad Thor and Matt Camuso share a laugh on Behind the Ticker

In this episode of Behind the Ticker, host Brad Roth, CIO of Thor Financial Technologies, talks with Matt Camuso, Executive Director, Head of ETF Solutions at Baron Capital, about the firm’s recent move into ETFs before digging into the Baron Technology ETF (BCTK). From SMID-Cap investing to overlooked applications of AI, don’t miss this conversation that covers the benefits and opportunities of active management and the ETF wrapper.

You can also listen to this episode on Spotify,Apple Podcasts, or any of your preferred streaming platforms.

Taking Active “Old School” With Baron Capital

Matt Camuso's ETF career started in 2012 on the internal sales desk at State Street representing the SPDR ETF business before moving on to JP Morgan and then BNY, where he ran ETF solutions, specializing in helping large, established asset managers enter the ETF wrapper for the first time. The education-first, client-focused approach eventually brought him to Baron Capital, where he joined to help launch and build out the firm's ETF business after more than 40 years as a mutual fund shop. Baron currently manages roughly $47 billion and now offers seven ETFs since launching initially in December 2025, and is approaching $800 million in ETF AUM.

The phrase Camuso returns to throughout the conversation is "old school active." Baron's investment philosophy, built by founder Ron Baron, is bottoms-up, fundamentals-driven, long-term ownership. The firm's average holding period well exceeds the three-to-five year target they set at entry, and the due diligence process is person-to-person. It’s an approach that allows the firm to maintains access to companies pre-IPO, including the recent Cerebras IPO, where Baron had been engaged with the company for months before it went public. The decision to enter the ETF wrapper came after years of deliberation and was driven by two forces: existing shareholders asking for a more tax-efficient vehicle without giving up Baron's active style, and the recognition that a large and growing pool of ETF-native investors had simply never had a way in.

The Baron Technology ETF (BCTK) holds approximately 40 names, is roughly 60% in the technology sector, and can invest up to 35% outside the US (currently around 20%) across all market caps. The strategy offers differentiated exposure through its small and mid cap access, international diversification, and pre-IPO and early-stage access that Baron's company engagement model creates. This has allowed the firm to access names like Coherent or Lumentum well before it earns its way into a major index. Lumentum, an optical networking company owned in BCTK, was up over 160% year to date at the time of recording and was entering the NASDAQ-100 on the day of this episode.

Story Continues

The conversation turns to overlooked opportunities in the AI value chain, highlighting Axon, a body camera and drone company serving police departments, as an example of how BCTK captures AI adoption across industries. Axon is using AI to auto-generate police reports from body camera footage, reducing a time-consuming part of the job while differentiating its product competitively. It also brings lower beta to a high-growth portfolio, which Camuso frames as a deliberate portfolio construction decision in finding companies that advance, develop, or benefit from technology, and using them to bring balance alongside the higher-flying disruptive names.

Roth makes sure to touch on the firm’s flagship ETF, the Baron First Principles ETF (RONB), which made headlines for holding SpaceX directly at one point above 20% of the portfolio. That exposure has contributed meaningfully to the $800 million in AUM Baron has accumulated since launching ETFs in December 2025. However, Camuso believes SpaceX inside an ETF is primarily about democratization of access in its purest form, making a private company most investors could never touch available through a publicly traded vehicle to anyone with a brokerage account.

This episode wraps with a discussion about how Baron Capital has approached ETF distrubution, where BCTK fits into a portfolio, and ETF industry acceleration happening in the last two years, including the introduction of the ETF share class. Investors wanting to learn more about Baron Capital can find that on their website.

Disclaimer: The market insights, projections, and investment strategies expressed in this article are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ETF.com. This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.

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