The Guinness Global Innovators Fund released its second-quarter 2026 investor update, reporting a return of 13.8% in GBP for the period. The fund outperformed both the MSCI World Index, which returned 13.0%, and the IA Global sector average at 13.1%. Market conditions improved during the quarter as Middle East tensions eased, oil prices declined, and investor interest in artificial intelligence renewed, prompting a rotation toward growth stocks and AI infrastructure beneficiaries.
Nasdaq, Inc. was highlighted as a new holding in the fund’s Q2 2026 letter. On August 21, the company’s shares closed at $98.22 per share, representing a one-month return of 4.56% and a 52-week gain of 4.13%. The company maintained a market capitalization of $54.9 billion.
According to the fund’s analysis, Nasdaq operates as a global technology, data, and analytics company rather than a traditional exchange operator. The firm deliberately shifted its strategic focus in 2017 away from transaction-driven revenue toward higher-growth, higher-margin software and analytics offerings. The company’s business spans three segments: Financial Technology, which benefits from increased regulatory compliance and transparency requirements globally and includes the Calypso trading and risk-management platform; Capital Access Platforms, encompassing listing fees, market data subscriptions, and index licensing; and its exchange business, which functions as a data generation and monetization engine while providing portfolio protection during volatile market periods.
The fund noted that Nasdaq’s business model features a 60% recurring revenue mix, offering resilience during economic downturns. The exchange segment, while originally the primary revenue driver, has evolved into an enabler for other business segments by generating proprietary pricing data that the company packages and sells to customers. Nasdaq held 56 positions in hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter, up from 51 in the previous quarter.
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