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 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) as a leading performance contributor. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) is the world’s leading manufacturer of integrated circuits and other semiconductor devices. On May 18, 2026, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) closed at $395.95 per share. One-month return of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) was 7.57%, and its shares gained 104.68% over the past 52 weeks. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) has a market capitalization of $2.06 trillion.
Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund stated the following regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) in its Q1 2026 investor letter:
“Against this backdrop of uncertainty at the software layer, one of our strongest performing holdings operates in more certain territory. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited’s (NYSE:TSM) stock price has appreciated 66% over the financial year, making it the most significant contributor to performance for FY26 so far. The Fund has been invested in TSMC since May 2020. As the largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC is one of the most important companies in the world. Over our investment period, TSMC has cemented its position as the leading manufacturer of advanced chips and delivered Earnings per Share growth of over 30% per annum. Investment returns have been 38% on an annualised basis.
More recent growth has been fuelled by the demand for chips used in High-Performance Computing applications, or AI. Semiconductor proliferation (across AI and other markets) as well as the increasing complexities in the semiconductor manufacturing process places TSMC in an increasingly important position. Put simply, TSMC have a near-monopoly in the manufacture of leading-edge chips and so will thrive as long as the semiconductor industry continues to push the performance envelope. This is a bet we are willing to make.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) ranks 6th on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 224 hedge fund portfolios held Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) at the end of the fourth quarter, up from 194 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) 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 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE:TSM) and shared the list of richest hedge fund managers in the world and their top stock picks. 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.
