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.	UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	UNH	↗
5.	Alphabet, Inc.	GOOG	---
6.	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	JPM	↗
7.	Facebook, Inc.	FB	↙
8.	Visa, Inc.	V	↗
9.	Wells Fargo & Co.	WFC	↙
10.	Bank of America Corp.	BAC	---
11.	Mastercard, Inc.	MA	---
12.	Comcast Corp.	CMCSA	↗
13.	Johnson & Johnson	JNJ	↗
14.	The Coca-Cola Company	KO	↗
15.	Verizon Communications, Inc.	VZ	↗
16.	Merck & Co., Inc.	MRK	↗
17.	Pfizer, Inc.	PFE	---
18.	Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.	BRK/B	↗
19.	Netflix, Inc.	NFLX	↙
20.	Citigroup, Inc.	C	↙
21.	American Express Company	AXP	---
22.	Adobe Systems, Inc.	ADBE	↙
23.	The Boeing Company	BA	↗
24.	The Home Depot, Inc.	HD	↙
25.	Medtronic PLC	MDT	---

 

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 Q3 2018.

 

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 trade tariffs 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? How will a possible trade war on multiple fronts impact the stock market?
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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• Al Kamienski Professor of Finance, North Park University
• Joel N. Morse Professor of Finance, University of Baltimore
• Andrew H. Cohen University Distinguished Teacher, Entsminger Entrepreneurship Fellow, Lecturer/Manager/Presenter, The Gregory A. Lumsden Trading Room & Research Lab, & Robert M. Mcnab – Professor of Economics, Old Dominion University
• Yosef Bonaparte Associate Professor of Finance, Director of the J.P Morgan Center for Commodities, CU Denver Business School, University of Colorado Denver
• George A. Haloulakos MBA, CFA – Instructor, University of California, San Diego
• Richard S. Warr Professor of Finance, North Carolina State University

More Experts

Methodology

This report is based on information from the latest public disclosures (Form 13F-HR for Q3 2018 and SC amendments from October 1 to November 14) 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.

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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