Nasdaq (NDAQ) Has Quietly Built a More Durable Business Beyond Trading

Nasdaq (NDAQ) Has Quietly Built a More Durable Business Beyond Trading

Mon, August 24, 2026 at 3:35 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• NDAQ +0.69%
• CL=F -1.79%

Guinness Global Innovators, an investment management company, recently released its Q2 2026 quarterly investor update for its "Guinness Global Innovators Fund". You can download the letter here. The Guinness Global Innovators Fund focuses on investing in global companies that benefit from innovation in technology, communication, globalization, and management strategies. In the second quarter of 2026, the Guinness Global Innovators Fund returned 13.8% in GBP, compared with 13.0% for the MSCI World Index and 13.1% for the IA Global sector average. Easing Middle East tensions, falling oil prices, and renewed enthusiasm for artificial intelligence helped reverse much of the caution seen earlier in the year, with investors rotating back toward growth stocks and AI infrastructure beneficiaries. The Fund benefited from its overweight position in the Information Technology sector, while its overweight position in Communication Services detracted. Avoiding weaker Utilities, Materials, and Energy also supported relative performance. Also, please check the Fund's top five holdings to see its best picks for 2026.

In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Guinness Global Innovators Fund highlighted Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) as a new holding. Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) operates as a technology company that serves capital markets and other industries. On August 21, 2026, Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) closed at $98.22 per share. One-month return of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) was 4.56% and its shares gained 4.13% over the past 52 weeks. Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) has a market capitalization of $54.9 billion.

Guinness Global Innovators Fund stated the following regarding Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:

"Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) is best understood not as a traditional exchange but as a global technology, data, and analytics company that happens to own a major stock exchange, a positioning it has deliberately built since its 2017 strategic pivot away from transaction-driven revenue towards higher-growth, higher-margin software and analytics. Nasdaq's business is diversified across three segments. Through its Financial Technology segment, the firm is strategically positioned to benefit from a structural rise in compliance and transparency requirements as regulators demand more granular and frequent reporting from banks globally. This segment also houses Calypso, a trading and risk-management platform whose demand is underpinned by the growing complexity of trading, collateral, and risk requirements at large financial institutions. The Capital Access Platforms segment includes listing fees, market data subscriptions and index licensing on products such as the Nasdaq-100. Lastly, its exchange business, although originally the direct driver of the business, has become more of an enabler for other business segments, as trading activity generates proprietary pricing data that the company repackages and monetises, while providing the firm with a partial hedge during periods of heightened market volatility. Further, its 60% recurring revenue mix offers protection against economic downturns." (Click here to read the full text)

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 56 hedge fund portfolios held Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) at the end of the first quarter which was 51 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and shared the company's Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2026 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.