Firebird Management LLC, an investment management company, released its “Firebird US Value Fund” Q3 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. With a 0.5% decrease in the federal funds rate in the third quarter of 2024, the interest rate-lowering cycle appears to have begun. There is disagreement among market analysts over the final rate setting, however, it is generally agreed that at least one additional interest rate cut will occur in 2024. The portfolio has generated more than $124,000 in operating cash flow for every $1 million in market value during the past 12 months. Over the following five years, the firm anticipates that the operating cash flow of the portfolio will increase at a 9.7% CAGR. The FCF yield of the portfolio is approximately 7.1%, whereas the S&P 500 yield is 2.9%. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.

Firebird US Value Fund highlighted stocks like Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in the Q3 2024 investor letter. Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) offers business services that support, protect, and connect consumer purchases that operate through the Global Lifestyle and Global Housing segments. The one-month return of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) was 2.77%, and its shares gained 18.66% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 31, 2024, Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) stock closed at $191.76 per share with a market capitalization of $9.932 billion.

Firebird US Value Fund stated the following regarding Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

"Travelers Co looks largely the same as it did ten years ago, which cannot be said for our other decade-long holding, Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ).

Assurant, a significantly smaller company with a market cap of $10 billion compared to Travelers' $50 billion, has a unique business model. It specializes in two niche insurance types – extended service contracts for consumer electronics and lender-placed home insurance. Despite the apparent dissimilarity, both businesses share a common trait - the separation between the decision-maker and the payer - a factor contributing to Assurant's healthy profitability.

In the case of extended service contracts, the rates are negotiated with mobile service providers and paid for by customers who choose to add this feature to their mobile plans. Mobile operators are encouraged to upsell this service through commissions and profit share arrangements…” (Click here to read the full text)

A close-up of a homeowner signing a mortgage contract.

Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 29 hedge fund portfolios held Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) at the end of the second quarter which was 26 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) 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 Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) and shared the list of best car insurance stocks to buy as car insurance rates skyrocketing. 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.