The Most Popular Stocks in Hedge Fund Portfolios

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June 25, 2024 Article/Editing: Graphics/Design:

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The Most Popular Stocks in Hedge Fund Portfolios

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In 2023, hedge funds managed over $4 trillion in assets, hitting a record high.

While the industry saw tepid returns over much of the last decade, it has seen a resurgence in interest amid a rising rate environment. Often, hedge funds cater to an investor base of pension funds, high-net worth investors, and university endowments.

The above graphic shows the most popular hedge fund investments, based on 13F filings via WhaleWisdom.

The Top Hedge Fund Investments

Overall, Microsoft stands as the most popular company, with 874 hedge funds holding the stock.

As the megacap ramps up its AI offerings, it is capturing significant interest from hedge funds. In 2024, Microsoft shares are up over 20% as of June 24, sitting near all-time highs. Like Microsoft, a substantial share of hedge funds hold big tech stocks such as Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia.

Here are the most commonly held stocks in hedge fund portfolios as of the first quarter of 2024:

RankCompanyShare of Hedge Funds
Holding the StockNumber of Hedge Funds
Holding the Stock 1Microsoft44%874 2Amazon42%835 3Alphabet Class A38%745 4Apple36%714 5Meta36%710 6Nvidia34%675 7Alphabet Class C32%631 8Visa31%617 9JPMorgan Chase & Co29%570 10Berkshire Hathaway
Class B28%564 11Mastercard26%521 12UnitedHealth Group26%518 13Johnson & Johnson26%517 14ExxonMobil Corp25%499 15Eli Lilly & Co.25%498 Advertisement

Ranking in fourth is Apple, with 36% of hedge funds investing in the company.

On a net basis, hedge funds added over 26 million shares of Apple to their portfolios over the quarter, the highest among the group. Hedge funds are increasingly warming up to the stock ahead of Apple introducing AI enhancements to its iPhones this year or in 2025.

By contrast, hedge funds made the greatest reductions in Nvidia and Alphabet on a net basis. Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management LLC was among the hedge funds

Visualized: The Price of Carbon Around the World in 2024

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June 25, 2024 Article & Editing Graphics & Design Visualized: The Price of Carbon Around the World

Only 1% of global emissions are priced high enough to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature target in 2024.

This chart, created in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, shows carbon prices around the world using data from the World Bank.

Let’s start by looking at what carbon pricing is and how it works.

What Is Carbon Pricing?

Carbon pricing is an environmental strategy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by assigning a monetary cost to carbon emissions. 

The most common types of carbon pricing are emissions trading systems (ETS) and carbon taxes. The former sets an overall emission limit and allocates permits for trading, whereas the latter imposes a fee on emissions to increase their cost and incentivize reductions.

According to the World Bank, Finland and Poland were the first countries to implement a federal carbon price in 1990. The most recent countries, on the other hand, were Australia, Hungary, and Indonesia, implementing carbon pricing in 2023.

Carbon Prices, By Region

In 2017, the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition suggested that carbon prices should range from $50–100/tCO2 by 2030 to meet the Paris Climate Agreement’s temperature goal.

Fast forward to 2024, the global average carbon price is $32/tCO2—$18 short of the minimum that is needed in six years.

Carbon pricing varies significantly across different regions. Europe and Central Asia have the highest number of pricing initiatives out of any other world region, with an average price of $50/tCO2.

In the U.S. and Canada, the average price is slightly lower at $48 per ton, with 16 initiatives in place. North America’s approach is characterized by both federal and state/provincial systems, including notable schemes like Canada’s federal carbon pricing and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the United States.

RegionAverage Carbon PriceNumber of Initiatives Europe & Central Asia$5026 U.S. & Canada$4816 Latin America & Caribbean$2411 East Asia & Pacific$1118 Africa$101

The European Union’s ETS system was introduced in 2005. The initiative led to a 16% decrease in covered emissions between 2022 and 2023 and generated $47 billion. Several EU member countries have also implemented their own carbon pricing mechanisms to address sectors outside the EU ETS’s scope or to generate

Nvidia is Worth More Than All of These Companies Combined

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May 27, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Putting the Market Cap of Nvidia Into Perspective

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Nvidia’s massive rise in the AI era has been well-documented, but did you know that it’s currently the world’s third most valuable company?

To put the massive market cap of Nvidia into perspective, we’ve put it side by side with a collection of other major U.S. tech companies.

All figures were sourced from Companiesmarketcap.com, and are as of May 23, 2024.

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Data and Takeaways

All of the numbers we used to create this graphic are included in the table below.

CompanyMarket Cap
(as of May 23, 2024) Nvidia$2.5T Meta$1.2T Tesla$553B Netflix$272B AMD$257B Intel$128B IBM$157B

These figures are even more impressive when you consider that at the beginning of 2020, Nvidia was valued at a relatively tiny $145 billion.

Since then, the company has greatly surpassed other American chipmakers like Intel and AMD. This growth is due to several key factors:

Expansion into AI and data centers: Nvidia’s chips are highly effective for AI training, making them essential for companies engaged in machine learning and generative AI Advancements in AI software: Nvidia has developed AI software platforms, such as CUDA-X and TensorRT, which are widely used by researchers. Strong financial performance: Nvidia has consistently delivered strong financial results in recent years, with substantial revenue growth. Closing in on Apple

With Nvidia’s latest stock surge (up 13.5% over the past five days ending May 24, 2024), the company could possibly overtake Apple to become the world’s second most valuable company.

Microsoft, another major player in AI, holds the #1 spot with a market cap of $3.2 trillion.

See More Visuals on Nvidia

If you enjoyed this graphic, be sure to check out this graphic that breaks down Nvidia’s revenue by product line, from 2019 to 2024.

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Ranked: The World’s Largest Lithium Producers in 2023

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May 23, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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The World’s Largest Lithium Producers in 2023

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Three countries—Australia, Chile, and China—accounted for 88% of lithium production in 2023.

In this graphic, we list the world’s leading countries in terms of lithium production. These figures come from the latest USGS publication on lithium statistics (published Jan 2024).

Australia Leads, China Approaches Chile

Australia, the world’s leading producer, extracts lithium directly from hard-rock mines, specifically from the mineral spodumene.

The country saw a big jump in output over the last decade. In 2013, Australia produced 13,000 metric tons of lithium, compared to 86,000 metric tons in 2023.

RankCountryLithium production 2023E (metric tons) 1🇦🇺 Australia86,000 2🇨🇱 Chile44,000 3🇨🇳 China33,000 4🇦🇷 Argentina9,600 5🇧🇷 Brazil4,900 6🇨🇦 Canada3,400 7🇿🇼 Zimbabwe3,400 8🇵🇹 Portugal380 🌍 World Total184,680

Chile is second in rank but with more modest growth. Chilean production rose from 13,500 tonnes in 2013 to 44,000 metric tons in 2023. Contrary to Australia, the South American country extracts lithium from brine.

China, which also produces lithium from brine, has been approaching Chile over the years. The country increased its domestic production from 4,000 metric tons in 2013 to 33,000 last year.

Chinese companies have also increased their ownership shares in lithium producers around the globe; three Chinese companies are also among the top lithium mining companies. The biggest, Tianqi Lithium, has a significant stake in Greenbushes, the world’s biggest hard-rock lithium mine in Australia.

Argentina, the fourth country on our list, more than tripled its production over the last decade and has received investments from other countries to increase its output.

With all the top producers increasing output to cover the demand from the clean energy industry, especially for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, the lithium market has seen a surplus recently, which caused prices to collapse by more than 80% from a late-2022 record high.

Mapped: The Number of AI Startups By Country

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May 6, 2024

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Mapped: The Number of AI Startups By Country

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Amidst the recent expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), we’ve visualized data from Quid (accessed via Stanford’s 2024 AI Index Report) to highlight the top 15 countries which have seen the most AI startup activity over the past decade.

The figures in this graphic represent the number of newly funded AI startups within that country, in the time period of 2013 to 2023. Only companies that received over $1.5 million in private investment were considered.

Data and Highlights

The following table lists all of the numbers featured in the above graphic.

RankGeographic areaNumber of newly funded
AI startups (2013-2023) 1🇺🇸 United States5,509 2🇨🇳 China1,446 3🇬🇧 United Kingdom727 4🇮🇱 Israel442 5🇨🇦 Canada397 6🇫🇷 France391 7🇮🇳 India338 8🇯🇵 Japan333 9🇩🇪 Germany319 10🇸🇬 Singapore193 11🇰🇷 South Korea189 12🇦🇺 Australia147 13🇨🇭 Switzerland123 14🇸🇪 Sweden94 15🇪🇸 Spain94

From this data, we can see that the U.S., China, and UK have established themselves as major hotbeds for AI innovation.

In terms of funding, the U.S. is massively ahead, with private AI investment totaling $335 billion between 2013 to 2023. AI startups in China raised $104 billion over the same timeframe, while those in the UK raised $22 billion.

Further analysis reveals that the U.S. is widening this gap even more. In 2023, for example, private investment in the U.S. grew by 22% from 2022 levels. Meanwhile, investment fell in China (-44%) and the UK (-14.1%) over the same time span.

Where is All This Money Flowing To?

Quid also breaks down total private AI investment by focus area, providing insight into which sectors are receiving the most funding.

Focus AreaGlobal Investment in 2023
(USD billions) 🤖 AI infrastructure, research,
and governance$18.3 🗣️ Natural language
processing$8.1 📊 Data management$5.5 ⚕️ Healthcare$4.2 🚗 Autonomous vehicles$2.7 💰 Fintech$2.1 ⚛️

Visualized: Interest Rate Forecasts for Advanced Economies

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May 1, 2024 Article/Editing: Graphics/Design:

Interest Rate Projections for Advanced Economies

While U.S. inflation cooled in the second half of last year, price pressures returned in 2024, leading investors to rethink how soon central bankers will cut rates.

Despite the recent increase, the interest rate forecast for many economies looks optimistic, thanks to subdued energy price shocks and abating supply chain disruptions. Still, short-term risks remain, including persistently high services inflation clouding the outlook.

This graphic shows the interest rate forecast for advanced economies, based on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2024 World Economic Outlook.

Get the Key Insights of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook

Want a visual breakdown of the insights from the IMF’s 2024 World Economic Outlook report?

This visual is part of a special dispatch of the key takeaways exclusively for VC+ members.

Get the full dispatch of charts by signing up to VC+.

A Closer Look at the IMF Interest Rate Forecast

Below, we show the projected path of interest rates based on the IMF’s latest data:

Federal ReserveBank of EnglandECBBank of Japan Q1 20245.4%4.0%-0.1%5.3% Q2 20245.3%3.9%0.0%5.3% Q3 20245.0%3.7%0.0%5.0% Q4 20244.7%3.4%0.1%4.8% Q1 20254.5%3.2%0.1%4.5% Q2 20254.3%3.0%0.1%4.3% Q3 20254.1%2.7%0.1%4.0% Q4 20253.9%2.7%0.2%3.8% Q1 20263.7%2.6%0.3%3.5% Q2 20263.5%2.6%0.4%3.5% Q3 20263.3%2.6%0.4%3.5% Q4 20263.1%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q1 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q2 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q3 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q4 20272.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q1 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q2 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q3 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5% Q4 20282.9%2.6%0.6%3.5%

As we can see, the U.S. is forecast to see its first rate cut in the second quarter of 2024.

Broadly speaking, rates will be cut very gradually, with two additional rate cuts anticipated for this year. By 2027, interest rates are projected to fall to 2.9% after a series of moderate rate cuts as inflation dissipates.

Like the U.S., the European Central Bank is forecast to cut rates in the second quarter of 2024, with rates set to fall to 2.6% by 2026. While inflation has cooled at a faster rate across Europe compared to the U.S., GDP growth is also projected to be more muted. This year, the IMF projects that

Mapped: The Age of Energy Projects in Interconnection Queues, by State

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56 mins ago

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April 30, 2024

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Age of Energy Projects in Interconnection Queues, by State

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

By the end of 2023, more than 11,000 energy projects were in interconnection queues in the United States, waiting for a green-light from regional grid operators to proceed with construction. 

This map, created in partnership with the National Public Utilities Council, maps out the average age of active energy projects in interconnection queues by state, using data from Berkeley Lab. 

Interconnection Queues, Explained

Interconnection queues are lists of energy projects that have made interconnection requests to their regional grid operators. Once submitted, these requests formally initiate the impact study process that each project goes through before grid connection, forming waiting lists for approval known as interconnection queues. 

In recent years, both the number and generation capacity of queued projects have surged in the United States, along with the length of time spent in queue. 

According to Berkeley Lab, the amount of generation capacity entering queues each year has risen by more than 550% from 2015 to 2023, with average queue duration rising from 3 years to 5 years the same period.  

As a result of the growing backlog, a large proportion of projects ultimately withdraw from queues, leading to only 19% of applications reaching commercial operations. 

The Backlog: Number of Projects and Average Wait Times

Of the 11,000 active projects in U.S. queues at the end of 2023, Texas, California, and Virginia had the most in queue; 1,208, 947, and 743, respectively. 

When looking at the average ages of these projects, all three states hovered around the national average of 34 months (2.83 years), with Texas sporting 28 months, California 33, and Virginia 34. 

Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Florida, on the other hand, had the highest average queue durations; 54, 49, 47, and 46 months, respectively. 

Average Queue Duration by Project Type

At the end of 2023, more than 95% of the generation capacity in active interconnection queues was for emission-free resources. The table below provides a breakdown. 

Project TypeAverage Queue Duration
(As of 12/31/2023)
Number of Projects in Queue