We invest in companies that perform as good ancestors to deliver value across generations.
Investment Thesis
The Ancestor Fund is a growth-focused private investment fund built on a philosophy that companies who think in generations, not quarters, are best positioned to create sustainable economic returns.
About the Ancestor Fund
The Ancestor Fund is the investment fund for The Planet School’s endowment. We accept external private capital on a limited basis from individuals interested in adding a novel private school endowment strategy to their portfolio.
The fund itself is a long-term, low-turnover investment partnership focused on compounding capital through disciplined ownership of 20–40 U.S.-listed securities where we have high conviction in “ancestral value” creation over the long run. The porfolio includes businesses and assets that reflect building enduring value rather than extracting short-term gains or manufacturing temporary stock price increases.
Specifically, we favor companies that:
Have operated successfully for multiple generations already or are likely to be a company that, generations from now, will have withstood the test of time. We avoid fads; we prefer tectonics.
Are generally seen to propel their entire industry rather than just being its top performer. We look for companies that could be viewed as utilities within their sector.
Maintain values, governance, and cultures that support resilience rather than shortcuts, allocating capital with discipline and a multi-decade mindset. This can present quantitatively as consistently sufficient free cash flows to support healthy reinvestment in operational excellence and shareholder distributions.
Are trading materially below intrinsic value with clear foundational pathways to reversing that valuation within 3-5 years. We look for dips that are due to the news cycle, temporary sentiment, or intransitive headwinds, none of which compromise foundational value.
If a company has already operated successfully for 100+ years, it has a strong chance of embodying ancestral value. For newer companies, we look for sector nascency in its long-term impact (e.g. renewable energy, artificial intelligence) and platform size for supporting market-wide generational excellence (e.g. education, chip production, sustainable rare-earth). We view ancestral value as capable of compounding growth that future stakeholders will inherit and build upon.
Performance
The Ancestor Fund was launched at the beginning of 2025.
Gross Return (2025): 26.5%
Net Return (2025): 21.2%
Benchmark S&P 500 (2025): 17.9%
Total Holdings (12/31/2025): 28
Top 10 Holdings
You may view the full Ancestor Fund holdings and performance history here.
Management Fee: 1%
Charitable Contribution: 2% of annual net asset value
Expense Ratio: 1.02% (reflects management fee and ETF positions in the fund)
Dividend Yield: 1.25%
Lockheed Martin (LMT): 5%
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B): 5%
NVIDIA (NVDA): 5%
Union Pacific (UNP): 4%
Deere (DE): 4%
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII): 4%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ): 4%
Morgan Stanley (MS): 4%
Sysco (SYY): 4%
Tesla (TSLA): 4%
Ancestor Fund Management
The Ancestor Fund charges a 1% fixed management fee. Additionally, the Ancestor Fund intends to make an annual charitable contribution equal to 2% of net asset value to the Planet School Education Fund, a Delaware-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This charitable contribution is made by the partnership and is allocated to the fund’s limited partners on a pro-rata basis, allowing partners to generally claim their share of the charitable deduction subject to applicable tax rules. Often, this charitable contribution can help offset any taxable gains attributable to fund activities. Limited partners are encouraged to consult their tax advisor to confirm these claims and verify their tax exposure.
Through this structure, the Ancestor Fund seeks to compound long-term investment returns while providing recurring support for experiential education through The Planet School.
As a portfolio venture of The Planet School, the Ancestor Fund integrates an educational research component consistent with the school’s experiential learning model. Planet School students participate in researching and evaluating potential securities for the portfolio, developing investment memoranda and presenting their findings to the General Partner. All investment decisions remain the sole responsibility of the General Partner.
The Ancestor Fund’s General Partner is Thane Robinson. Thane studied economics at Brown University and began writing Python scripts to automate investment ideas in 2016 using the Alpaca API. He started the Ancestor Fund in 2025 with the dual goal of unlocking ancestral value within the stock market and creating a risk hedge to the technology sector that does not wholly ignore the role of technology itself as a fledgling ancestor category.
