Horos Asset Management, an investment management firm, published its third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. During the quarter, Horos Value Internacional fund returned 2.9% (9.8% in 2024) and Horos Value Iberia fund returned -0.2% (3.0% in 2024). Asian markets have experienced unheard-of volatility in the third quarter of 2024, with the Chinese and Japanese stock markets experiencing sharp fluctuations not seen in decades. Equities markets in the West, meanwhile, have held steady, with key indices continuing their relentless rise. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Horos Asset Management highlighted stocks like Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) is an investment advisory and wealth management services provider. The one-month return of Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) was -8.78%, and its shares lost 16.51% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On December 30, 2024, Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) stock closed at $11.53 per share with a market capitalization of $824.24 million.
Horos Asset Management stated the following regarding Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“As usual, we will also discuss the most significant changes that we made to our portfolios during the third quarter. Among others, we can highlight that Horos Value Internacional initiated new positions in the Hong Kong-based wealth management and portfolio advisory company Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH).
Noah is a firm that provides wealth management and asset management services for high-net-worth Chinese clients. The Chinese economic crisis, along with the losses associated with a host of structured financial products offered by the shadow banking sector (such as Wealth Management Products, or WMPs) has led to a much more complex regulatory environment in the industry, as well as greater caution among Noah’s clients. To counteract this challenging situation, the company has reduced its commercial activity in China and made significant efforts to expand in Hong Kong (as well as in the United States and Singapore), where it also serves high-net-worth Chinese-speaking clients.
Historically, the company’s founding and management team, despite holding more than 35% of the shares, had not been known for a shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy. However, the significant weakness in its stock price in recent times has led to a major shift in their capital allocation approach. Specifically, in 2023 they announced a change in their dividend policy, committing to distribute at least 35% of the annual profit generated. Additionally, they expressed a strong willingness to issue special dividends when there was excess cash. As evidence of this, in 2024 Noah distributed 20% of its market capitalization as a dividend. This major shift, combined with a significant undervaluation of its businesses, led us to initiate a position in the company.”
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Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 12 hedge fund portfolios held Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) at the end of the third quarter which was 14 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE:NOAH) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 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.