Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy” third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The third quarter had a strong finish for U.S. small-cap equities, driven by interest rate reductions and fading recessionary concerns. In the third quarter, the fund delivered 7.65% gross, and 7.35% net of fees compared to an 8.41% return for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.

Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) is a private equity and venture capital firm, with a market capitalization of $10.637 billion. The one-month return of Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) was 7.12%, and its shares gained 104.72% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 15, 2024, Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) stock closed at $191.88 per share.

Polen U.S. Small Company Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"The top three contributors to the Portfolio's relative performance in the quarter were Goosehead Insurance, Revolve Group, and Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE). Hamilton Lane, a private markets fund manager and service provider, was the third largest contributor to the Portfolio's relative performance. Over many quarters, Hamilton Lane has delivered consistently solid fundamental results, and the stock continues to be a robust performer with no significant change in our underlying expectations."

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Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 18 hedge fund portfolios held Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) at the end of the second quarter which was 15 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) 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 another article, we discussed Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) and shared TimesSquare Capital Management U.S. Small Cap Growth Strategy's views on the company. Hamilton Lane Incorporated (NASDAQ:HLNE) was the top contributor to the performance of Polen Capital in the previous quarter due to its strong performance. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.