Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for the “Artisan Small Cap Fund”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. US equities were mixed in Q1 2026, with major indices hitting all-time highs in January before retreating amid geopolitical tensions, changing monetary policy, and economic uncertainty. Energy stocks surged, outpacing the market, while value outperformed growth as investors moved from tech to commodity-sensitive sectors. Market leadership broadened, with mid- and small-cap indices performing better than large caps. The Iran conflict influenced market behavior. AI-related investments supported capital spending and earnings, though investor sentiment was mixed. The portfolio saw negative absolute returns but outpaced the Russell 2000® Growth Index, offering some downside protection. Investor Class: ARTSX, Advisor Class: APDSX, and Institutional Class: APHSX returned -2.72%, -2.68%, and -2.69%, respectively, in the first quarter compared to -2.81% return for the index. The market shifted towards cyclical, commodity sectors, less aligned with high-quality franchises, due to geopolitical events and energy shocks. Despite this, many portfolio companies maintained solid earnings aligned with their profit cycles. The Firm views this environment as supportive of its stock selection approach, focused on bottom-up stock selection across industries. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Fund highlighted The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN). The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) is an insurance and risk management firm. On June 4, 2026, The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) closed at $19.24 per share. One-month return of The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) was -4.66%, and its shares lost 50.19% over the past 52 weeks. The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Fund stated the following regarding The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“During the quarter, we initiated new GardenSM positions in Onto Innovation, The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) and Freshpet. Baldwin Group is a US insurance broker focused on the middle market, with differentiated exposure to embedded insurance and point-of-sale distribution channels. We initiated a GardenSM position following a broad selloff in insurance brokerage stocks as premium pricing conditions have normalized and investors expressed concerns that AI could potentially disrupt traditional, human-centric insurance brokerage models. Similar to our observations with Compass, we believe these AI-related risks are overstated. We were also encouraged by Baldwin’s acquisition of CAC Group earlier this year, which meaningfully expanded its scale, specialty capabilities and distribution footprint.”
The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 15 hedge fund portfolios held The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 18 in the previous quarter.While we acknowledge the risk and potential of The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) 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 The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered The Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWIN) and shared the list of cheap rising stocks to buy. 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.
