Brown Advisory, an investment management company, released its “Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy” for the first quarter of 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The strategy focused on delivering strong long-term performance by investing in a focused portfolio of companies that solve customer problems and provide good returns for shareholders. The first quarter of 2026 saw intensified challenges in capital markets, marked by a general weakness in risk assets and negative perceptions around the “AI loser” narrative, significantly impacting the portfolio’s concentrated holdings. Additionally, not being invested in the Energy sector contributed to the underperformance, accounting for about 20% of the Strategy’s relative decline year-to-date. Overall, the Strategy experienced an absolute correction of about 8.3% in the quarter, underperforming relative to the MSCI ACWI Net Return Index’s -3.2% return. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy highlighted stocks like Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a multinational financial services company known for its payment technology network that offers credit, debit, and prepaid card products and other services. On June 2, 2026, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) closed at $317.32 per share. One-month return of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) was -0.46%, and its shares lost 13.77% over the past 52 weeks. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) has a market capitalization of $603.46 billion.
Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy stated the following regarding Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Provides data processing, visa payment, international transactions and value-added services. Visa has experienced weakness due to a number of AI bear case concerns (such as white-collar unemployment), as well as potential macro softness driven by geopolitical risks. We view AI opportunities as beneficial, with Visa remaining critical for agentic commerce.”
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) ranks 9th on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 181 hedge fund portfolios held Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) at the end of the first quarter, compared to 184 in the previous quarter. In the second quarter of fiscal 2026, Visa Inc.’s (NYSE:V) net revenue grew 17% year-over-year to $11.2 billion and EPS increased 20%. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) 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 Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and shared the list of stocks most bought by hedge funds in Q1 2026. 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.
