Aoris Investment Management, a specialist international equity manager, released its Q1 2026 investor letter for “Aoris International Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The fund invests in high-quality, wealth-generating businesses managed by prudent and capable teams, targeting an annual return of 8–12% after fees over a 5–7-year market cycle. During the March quarter, international equity markets, as represented by the MSCI AC World Accumulation Index ex Australia, decreased by 5.8% in AUD terms. In local currencies, the decline was 2.8%. The Portfolio’s Class A (Unhedged) returned -13.7% after fees, underperforming its benchmark by 7.8%, while the Class C (Hedged) dropped 10.1%, 7.3% less than its benchmark. These results marked significant negative returns overall and against the benchmark. Investor concerns grew in the quarter, especially regarding how AI could impact the software, data, and services sectors. Additionally, reviewing the Fund’s top five holdings could help identify its best picks for 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Aoris Investment Management highlighted stocks like Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN). Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), a professional services company that focuses on consulting, technology and outsourcing, was among the leading detractors from performance during the quarter. On June 22, 2026, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) closed at $124.83 per share. One-month return of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was -29.47%, and its shares lost 58.49% over the past 52 weeks. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) has a market capitalization of $76.39 billion.
Aoris Investment Management stated the following regarding Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“The startling pace of advancement in AI tools over the last year is extremely impressive but has also unnerved many investors. The key concerns are what these tools will be capable of a few months, a year, or five years from now, and what that means for incumbent software, data and services businesses. Will AI displace white-collar workers, shrinking their client base? Will it make software free? Will data become a commodity?
Such reservations contributed to sharp share price declines over the quarter for five businesses in our portfolio – Microsoft and SAP (enterprise software), Experian and RELX (data), and Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) (professional services). These declines collectively had a negative impact on performance of 9.4%. I should note that these businesses were also major contributors to the Fund’s underperformance last year due to the same underlying investor concerns.
Many years ago, Accenture’s primary offerings were helping organisations outsource labour to low-cost locations and implementing complex IT systems in the data centres of its customers. If it hadn’t evolved, it would still be selling low-value services and subject to intense price competition. Instead, Accenture has become a critical partner to help large corporate and government customers migrate their IT infrastructure to the cloud, minimise cybersecurity risks, and build and implement AI productivity solutions.”
Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 64 hedge fund portfolios held Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) at the end of the first quarter, up from 71 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) reported revenues of $18.7 billion, reflecting a 5% increase in local currency. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) and shared the list of most promising stocks with highest upside potential. In Q1 2026, Madison Large Cap Fund sold its stake in Accenture Plc (NYSE:ACN) due to increased AI disruption concerns. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2026 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.
