Baron Funds: “We Continue to Own CME Due to its Strong Competitive Moats”

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Durable Advantage Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Baron Durable Advantage Fund (the “Fund”) declined 10.3% (Institutional Shares) during the first quarter, compared to the 4.6% decline for the S&P 500 Index (the “Index”), the Fund’s benchmark. Try to spend some time looking at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Durable Advantage Fund mentioned CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 2007, CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) is a Chicago, Illinois-based foreign exchange company with a $70.4 billion market capitalization. CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) delivered a -14.20% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -8.50%. The stock closed at $196.03 per share on May 17, 2022.

Here is what Baron Durable Advantage Fund has to say about CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“CME Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) operates the world’s largest and most diversified derivatives marketplace. Shares rose 4.6%, contributing to results as elevated market volatility and rising interest rates led to higher trading activity on CME’s exchanges. Average daily trading volume increased 19% year-over-year with notable strength in Interest Rates and Equities products. We continue to own the stock due to CME’s strong competitive moats, underpinned by its product breadth and liquidity depth, as well as its sustainable growth characteristics driven by the secular shift from uncleared over-the-counter trading to exchange-traded futures while also benefiting from the rising rate environment.”

Our calculations show that CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) was in 55 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 64 funds in the previous quarter. CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) delivered a -17.92% return in the past 3 months.

In April 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.