L1 Capital, an investment management firm, released its “L1 Capital International Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the June quarter, the fund returned -3.0% (net of fees) compared to 0.3% return for the Benchmark (all in Australian dollars). The Australian dollar appreciated 1.8% against the U.S. dollar in the quarter and 2.7% against the Euro, decreasing the Fund and Benchmark Australian dollar reported quarterly returns. The Fund returned 22.2% (net of fees) outperforming the Benchmark return of 19.8% (all in Australian dollars) for the year ended 30 June 2024. The Australian dollar appreciated 0.3% against the U.S. dollar and 2.0% against the Euro, thus currency had a limited impact on Australian dollar returns of the Fund and Benchmark over the past 12 months. Please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
L1 Capital International Fund highlighted stocks like Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a payment technology company with a market capitalization of $413.4 billion. The one-month return of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) was 0.38%, and its shares gained 10.98% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 9, 2024, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) stock closed at $444.70 per share.
L1 Capital International Fund stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The share prices of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) and Visa, both long term Fund investments, have both drifted down over recent months. There have been no dramatic developments, but there has been a general slight softening in the rate of growth of consumer spending in the U.S. and globally, a court decision rejecting Mastercard and Visa’s proposed settlement of a long-lasting dispute with U.S. merchants as well as other modest adverse regulatory developments. We continue to view Mastercard and Visa as two of the highest quality businesses in the world, and both are well placed to continue to deliver attractive, risk adjusted returns to shareholders over time.”
A customer making a purchase at a modern retail store terminal, showing the ubiquity of the company’s payment solutions.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is in 10th position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 148 hedge fund portfolios held Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) at the end of the first quarter which was 141 in the previous quarter. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) reported strong revenue and earnings growth in the first quarter 2024. The net revenue increased by 11% and net income rose by 16% in the quarter compared to a year ago on a non-GAAP currency neutral basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
We discussed Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in another article and shared Manole Capital Management’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
