Columbia Threadneedle Investments, an investment management company released its “Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. stock market rose 2.75% in Q4, bringing its full-year return to 24.51%, as measured by the Russell 1000 Index. The November election result removed investor uncertainty, raising hopes for pro-growth government policies. In addition, U.S. equities remained attractive due to high economic growth.  The fund’s Institutional Class shares returned 7.45% in the quarter, compared to a 5.61% return for the MSCI World Information Technology Index-Net. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings for its best picks for 2024.

In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund emphasized stocks such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is an American multinational company that designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories. The one-month return of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was -10.16%, and its shares gained 25.42% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 12, 2025, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock closed at $216.98 per share with a market capitalization of $3.259 trillion.

Columbia Seligman Global Technology Fund stated the following regarding Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

"The fund maintained a position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) throughout the quarter through the release of the company's new iPhone 16 in September. Company leaders were excited about the release of the new model, as this is the first model that will feature enhanced AI capabilities through the Apple Intelligence features. Sales for the first few weeks in October and November trailed behind year over year sales from the iPhone 15, as availability of Apple Intelligence was not compatible with all iPhone models. Apple announced a partnership with OpenAI that has allowed the integration of ChatGPT into the Apple ecosystem, separate from the core Apple Intelligence features. This partnership highlights continued progress from Apple to introduce AI capabilities into its products and we expect the iPhone 17 to have even more expansive AI capabilities, increasing potential demand for the new model that is on track to be released in 2025."

A busy sidewalk filled with people using Apple devices like iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in 8th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 166 hedge fund portfolios held Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 158 in the previous quarter. In the December quarter, Apple reported revenue of $124.3 billion, an increase of 4% from prior year's quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) 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 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and shared the list of best QQQ stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.