Mastercard (MA) Neden Yapay Zeka Bozulma Sorunlarına Karşı Bağışıklığını Koruyor?

Why Mastercard (MA) Remains Immune to AI Disruption Challenges

Mon, August 3, 2026 at 3:04 PM GMT+3 3 min read

• MA -0.74%

Fundsmith, an investment management firm based in London, has released its second-quarter 2026 investor letter for its "Fundsmith Equity Fund." A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund returned -2.9% in the first half of 2026, underperforming the MSCI World Index by 14.1 percentage points, driven by challenges from a momentum-driven market dominated by passive index funds and AI-related exuberance. The letter discusses the rise of passive investing, noting that index funds now resemble active funds, concentrating heavily in a few sectors and stocks. Due to increased market volatility and a 51% portfolio turnover in the first half of the year, the firm plans to adopt a more active approach, incorporating momentum while maintaining its core mantra: buy good companies, don't overpay, and do little. In addition, please check the Firm's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.

In its Q2 2026 investor letter, Fundsmith Equity Fund highlighted Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) as a newly added position. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) is a leading global payment technology company that provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services. On July 31, 2026, Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) closed at $573.10 per share, reflecting a market capitalization of $502.04 billion. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) posted a one-month return of 7.50%, while its shares gained 0.58% over the past 52 weeks.

Fundsmith Equity Fund stated the following regarding Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) in its Q2 2026 investor update:

"Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) – Mastercard operates a digital payment network connecting consumers, merchants, and banks worldwide. It benefits from a classic network effect: the more consumers use the card, the more merchants are forced to accept it, making it difficult for a new entrant to replicate. A new entrant would need to negotiate agreements and integrate its technology with the majority of global financial institutions. While digital payments feel ubiquitous in developed nations, roughly 1.4bn adults globally remain entirely unbanked. Future growth depends on bringing this unbanked population into the financial system, shifting remaining cash transactions to digital payments, and expanding into business-to business payments, a far bigger market than C2C or C2B payments. We now own both Visa and Mastercard in the portfolio as payments is one of the few sectors that we expect to grow no matter what happens with AI, and Mastercard and Visa are equally good businesses. This gives us a way to achieve >6% exposure to payments without excessive stock-specific risk or breaching UCITS concentration rules. Also, with 46% of all global transactions still done in cash and B2B payments 85% of the value of total global payments, there is plenty of room for two companies to grow and compound. ROIC: >75%, FCF yield: 4.5%."

Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) ranks 11 on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 157 hedge fund portfolios held Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) at the end of the first quarter, up from 150 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) 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 thebest short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) and shared Montaka Global Investments' views on the company. 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.