Cooper Investors, an investment management firm, released its first-quarter 2026 investor letter for “Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Unhedged)”. A copy of the letter is available to download here. The portfolio returned -9.2% in the quarter, bringing the year-to-date return to -12.2%. Currency movements negatively impacted returns by about 6%. The risk of AI disruption and the Iran War dominated the market in the quarter. The Fund uses the Capital Pool framework to categorize opportunities. The Real Assets portfolio was the only positive contributor for both the quarter and the year. The Compounding Capital Pool had poor returns, and Reversionary investments were a modest headwind. Review the Fund’s top five holdings for key 2026 insights.
In its first-quarter 2026 investor letter, Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund highlighted Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN). Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) is a specialty insurance services company that provides distribution, underwriting, product development, administration, and risk management services. On May 18, 2026, Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) closed at $33.67 per share. One-month return of Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) was -11.97%, and its shares lost 52.30% over the past 52 weeks. Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion.
Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund stated the following regarding Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Where the debate around Freee is about long-run business model durability, the investment case for Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN), the other significant detractor for the period, has been tested by something more traditional – a turning insurance cycle. The question of AI’s impact on wholesale broking is not lost on us, but we believe that the weakening insurance pricing environment has been more impactful on investor sentiment to date.
As described by Founder and Executive Chairman Pat Ryan on the 2025 Q4 earnings call, “What distinguishes this cycle is simple. It was harder for longer on the way up and much faster on the way down, particularly as it relates to property.” Pat went on to share that in more than 60 years in the industry he has rarely witnessed market sentiment shift this rapidly. We also failed to recognise how quickly the cycle was turning — or more directly, we failed to at least reduce the size of the investment as the operating environment was clearly softening. Ryan Specialty’s competitive position remains strong, and management continue to invest countercyclically in talent and technology. However, given the continuing weakness in end markets, we have materially reduced the size of our investment.”
Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 27 hedge fund portfolios held Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 26 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) 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 Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Ryan Specialty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) and shared Vulcan Value Partners’ views on the company. 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.
