Posted by: John S Kiernan

Net demand for allocating to hedge funds is at 28%, the highest in the past 3 years, according to Bloomberg. Currently, there are over $3 trillion in hedge funds. To put that in perspective, only four countries, including the U.S., have a GDP higher than that. Furthermore, the median yearly earning for a hedge fund manager is now just under $350,000, but there are many who are billionaires.

So it makes sense that people pay attention to what hedge fund managers are buying, selling and holding. We want to replicate their success. Hedge funds’ quarterly public disclosures, mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, give us a window into their recent activity.

To help investors make informed decisions about where to put their money, WalletHub analyzed the filings of over 400 top hedge funds, identifying their biggest holdings, new positions, recent exits and more. You can check it all out below, including a breakdown of the names that billionaire stock pickers – from Warren Buffett to George Soros – prefer these days.

1. Most Popular Hedge Fund Stocks
2. Top Billionaire Stock Picks
3. Hedge Fund Holdings by Sector
4. Ask the Experts: What Can We Learn From Hedge Funds?
5. Methodology

25 Most Popular Hedge Fund Stocks

Rank	Name of the Company	Ticker	Change from Last Quarter
1.	Microsoft Corp.	MSFT	---
2.	Amazon.com, Inc.	AMZN	---
3.	Apple, Inc.	AAPL	---
4.	Facebook, Inc.	FB	---
5.	Alphabet, Inc.	GOOG	---
6.	Wells Fargo & Co.	WFC	↗
7.	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	JPM	↙
8.	UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	UNH	---
9.	Visa, Inc.	V	↗
10.	Bank of America Corp.	BAC	↙
11.	Mastercard, Inc.	MA	↗
12.	Netflix, Inc.	NFLX	↙
13.	Comcast Corp.	CMCSA	↗
14.	Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	↗
15.	Citigroup, Inc.	C	↙
16.	The Coca-Cola Company	KO	↗
17.	The Home Depot, Inc.	HD	↗
18.	Adobe Systems, Inc.	ADBE	↗
19.	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.	BRK/B	↗
20.	Verizon Communications, Inc.	VZ	---
21.	Intel Corp.	INTC	↙
22.	salesforce.com, Inc.	CRM	---
23.	Merck & Co., Inc.	MRK	---
24.	Booking Holdings, Inc.	BKNG	↙
25.	The Boeing Company	BA	↙

 

Top Billionaire Stock Picks

Hedge funds have become so popular that the billionaires behind them have celebrity status. Not only are they rich and famous, but they can move markets with just a few words. Investors worldwide follow their every move.

If you, too, are curious to see how billionaire investors such as Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman are making their money these days, just check out the following infographic. You’ll find the top three holdings of 12 big-name billionaires, plus an overview of the stocks they’ve been buying and selling lately.

 

Embed on your website<a href="https://ift.tt/2vNksv0"> <img src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/posts/53588/q2-2018-top-billionaire-stock-picks-v1.png" width="" height="" alt="" /> </a> <div style="width:px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="https://ift.tt/2Cakh1u>

 

Hedge Fund Holdings by Sector

Diversification is key to investing success. That’s because spreading your chips around reduces risk and allows you to benefit from the broader market’s long-term upward trend. That’s why even the world’s best investors hedge their bets by allocating capital to various segments of the economy.

The investments don’t simply match the economy’s makeup, however. And they’re not always the same year to year, either. That’s why we can learn a lot from the way in which hedge funds diversify their investments. With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of where the money was during Q2 2018.

 

Embed on your website<a href="https://ift.tt/2vNksv0"> <img src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/posts/53590/hedge-fund-holdings-by-sector-q2-2018-v2.png" width="" height="" alt="" /> </a> <div style="width:px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="https://ift.tt/2Cakh1u> Ask the Experts: What Can We Learn From Hedge Funds?

In search of advice on how much stock we should put into billionaires’ stock picks, WalletHub asked the following questions to a panel of investing experts. You can check out their bios and responses below.

1. How will the recent tax reform, specifically corporate tax reform, impact stock prices in the short and long run?
2. To what extent does President Trump’s administration deserve credit for recent stock market performance?
3. Is the current stock market prone for a correction, or is there still room for growth?
4. What tips do you have for an individual investor? What sectors are expected to grow the most in the coming years?

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• Roger Koppl Professor of Finance, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University
• David W. Leapard Professor Emeritus, Eastern Michigan University
• Menachem Brenner Research Professor of Finance, New York University
• Paul G. Meeks CFA, Chief Investment Officer, Sloy, Dahl & Holst, Finance & Accounting Instructor, Western Washington University
• Albert Yan Wang Professor, Auburn University
• Blerina Bela Zykaj Assistant Professor, Clemson University

More Experts

Methodology

This report is based on information from the latest public disclosures (Form 13F-HR for Q2 2018 and SC amendments from July 1 to August 15) for over 400 of the largest U.S. hedge funds. Data refer only to equities (i.e. not American Depository Receipts, Global Depository Receipts, Notes, Bonds or any other type of tradable securities).

To construct the “Most Popular Stocks” list, we looked at each of the over 400 funds’ positions, added up the positions for the same stock and rank-ordered the stocks by their total holdings value.

To calculate the “Sector Breakdown” of the positions held by the tracked hedge funds, we added up all the positions of the hedge funds from the same sector and then divided by the total amount of the hedge funds’ positions.

For the “Most bought/sold stocks”, we added up all the sold transactions and all the buy transactions for a given stock in the last quarter and rank-ordered based on total activity.

Report Disclaimer: The information on this web page is provided as general and impersonalized investment information and is not a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Please obtain additional appropriate professional advice as needed in making any investment decisions. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Image: Phongphan / Shutterstock.com

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