Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron FinTech Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund declined 2.25% (Institutional Shares) compared to a (5.78)% return for the FactSet Global FinTech Index (Benchmark) and a 4.28% gain for the S&P 500 index. US equities rose with major market indices reaching all-time highs during the second quarter. Overwhelming corporate results were accompanied by mixed economic data that points to further moderation of inflation. However, the rally was concentrated and driven by mega-cap technology companies. The fund’s smaller market cap profile and lack of exposure to the Magnificent Seven led the fund to underperform the broader market. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron FinTech Fund highlighted stocks like Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in the Q2 2024 investor letter. Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) offers data analytics solutions to the insurance markets. The one-month return of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) was -4.78%, and its shares gained 12.55% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 9, 2024, Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) stock closed at $264.12 per share with a market capitalization of $37.617 billion.
Baron FinTech Fund stated the following regarding Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Shares of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK), a leading data and analytics vendor for the insurance industry, contributed to performance. The company reported strong quarterly earnings, especially relative to muted expectations, with accelerating revenue growth and significant margin expansion. Management expressed optimism regarding the state of the P&C insurance end-market with strong premium growth and improving profitability leading to better growth prospects for Verisk. We maintain conviction in the competitive positioning, long-term growth, margin expansion, and capital deployment potential for the business.”
An engineer using the latest predictive analytics software to formulate solutions.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 47 hedge fund portfolios held Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) at the end of the first quarter which was 32 in the previous quarter. The second quarter revenue of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) was $717 million, up 6.2% from Q2 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) 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.
In another article, we discussed Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) and shared the list of best consulting stocks to buy. Baron Fund mentioned in the Q1 2024 investor letter that Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) underperformed during the quarter due to market rotation. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
