Gotham poured $2.65B into SPY and grew its HUM stake 65-fold, pivoting hard from single-name stock-picking toward defensive market beta. General Mills' 4.4x add targets a trough valuation of 13x forward earnings and a 6% yield, as consumer sentiment sits at recessionary levels. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and KLA didn't make the cut.
Grab the names FREE today. Joel Greenblatt's Gotham Asset Management disclosed a defensive tilt in its Q2 2026 13F, filed in mid-August, headlined by a $2.65 billion add to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF and outsized conviction buys in managed care, packaged foods, and Manhattan office real estate. For a quant shop built on the "magic formula" framework, the shift toward index beta and staples is the tell.
Greenblatt appears to be dialing down single-name risk and buying umbrellas. The centerpiece move: SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) now anchors roughly 20% of the 1,791-position book. That is a striking allocation for a firm known for concentrated value screens.
With SPY trading at $768.51 and up 13.31% year to date, the add functions as a hedge against factor drift while the fund reshuffles hundreds of smaller positions. Pair that with a new ~$157 million short-duration Treasury bill position, and the message is clear: dry powder and market beta over stock-picking alpha. The most aggressive individual add was Humana (NYSE:HUM), where Gotham grew its share count roughly 65-fold.
The thesis is visible in the numbers. Humana posted Q2 revenue growth of 26.2% year over year, individual Medicare Advantage membership climbed meaningfully year over year, and CEO Jim Rechtin reiterated the path to a "sustainable pre-tax margin of at least 3% in 2028." The stock is up 51.18% year to date, and analysts carry a $416.43 target. Healthcare spending grew from $3,537.7B in June 2025 to $3,741.0B in June 2026, a textbook defensive tailwind.
General Mills (NYSE:GIS) saw a 4.4x share increase. This is a contrarian value bet: the stock is down 14.37% year to date, trades at a forward P/E of 13, and yields 6.22%. With consumer sentiment at recessionary levels of 49.5, staples exposure at trough multiples fits the playbook.
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