What smart money is saying about CME Group
5 funds in our archive have pitched CME Group, most recently Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged) in September 2026.
CME Group Inc., through its various subsidiaries, manages international marketplaces for the exchange of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. Its extensive array of product offerings includes futures and options linked to a broad spectrum of underlying assets, such as interest rates, equity indices, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, alongside fixed-income products. The company additionally furnishes essential clearinghouse services, which entail the verification, settlement, and guarantee of futures, options, and cleared swap agreements traded across its venues. It also offers services for transaction processing and risk mitigation. Furthermore, the organization provides diverse market data services, encompassing both real-time and historical data feeds. Its wide-ranging client base consists of professional traders, financial institutions, both institutional and individual investors, corporations, manufacturers, producers, governments, and central banks. Founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1898, the enterprise was formerly known as Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. before rebranding as CME Group Inc. in July 2007.
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Fund signal · last 12 months
30 lettersFunds are split between buying and selling
Moves described in fund letters in our archive. A sentence published word for word by several funds of one house in the same quarter counts once.
Position history
Between Q2 2025 and Q3 2026, 33 fund letters reported a position in CME Group, with 3 buys (opened or added) and 5 sells (trimmed or exited).
| Quarter | Letters | Bought | Sold | Theses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Q2 2026 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Q1 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Q4 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Q3 2025 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Q2 2025 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Bought and Sold count moves: the same sentence published by several funds of one house in a quarter counts once.
Fund activity · 33 positions · 9 moves
- HoldsHamlin Capital Management Equity and High Yield Municipal Bond StrategiesSeptember 2026
“ConocoPhillips, CME, and AbbVie led the portfolio in the third quarter, gaining 15.02% on average.”
CME Group - HoldsManole Capital Management FINTECH StrategySeptember 2026
“Today's exchange landscape extends far beyond the trading pits depicted in Trading Places. Organizations such as CME Group, Intercontinental Exchange, Nasdaq, and CBOE Global Markets facilitate enormous amounts of trading activity.”
CME Group - September 2026
“We were able to offset modest pullbacks in US Bancorp and PNC Financial Services with solid gains in Mastercard, CME Group, and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).”
CME Group - September 2026
Listed in WS Lindsell Train North American Equity Fund’s reported holdings.
CME Group - September 2026
“CME Group (CME) was the strongest contributor in the quarter as concerns around the competitive threat from the launch of “perpetual” futures somewhat dissipated.”
CME Group - September 2026
“CME Group (CME) was the strongest contributor in the quarter as concerns around the competitive threat from the launch of “perpetual” futures somewhat dissipated.”
CME Group - September 2026
“The fund outperformed its benchmark over the quarter, further extending its outperformance over the year to date. Stock selection was positive, with holdings in the financials and industrials sectors making particularly strong contributions. However, technology sector holdings fared less well. Edenred was one of the portfolio’s top performers over the quarter. The provider of employee benefits and corporate payment solutions attracted takeover interest, reflecting the value of its payments network after a period of share price weakness driven by regulatory concerns in some of its key markets. The fund benefited from strength in energy markets. Late Life-Cycle holdings such as energy heavyweight Shell, oil refiner Valero Energy, and Canadian integrated energy company Suncor Energy rose amid turmoil in the Middle East and soaring oil prices. In the financial sector, CME Group contributed positively as heightened market volatility increased demand for its derivatives products.”
CME Group - August 2026
“• Stock selection was also positive in Financials, with all five holdings outperforming the sector. CME was a stand-out, up 21.3% (in USD), recovering as worries around competition from new entrants ebbed.”
CME Group - July 2026
Listed in WS Lindsell Train North American Equity Fund’s reported holdings.
CME Group - June 2026
Listed in Harding Loevner Global Equity’s reported holdings.
CME Group - June 2026
“We have had the opportunity to invest in a couple of new businesses this quarter, and the great opportunity to invest more in some of our current holdings. We increased our stakes in AutoZone, CME Group, and Progressive. We also made a new investment in McKesson Corporation and had other smaller purchases.”
CME Group - June 2026
“• From a stock selection perspective, Financials acted as a headwind given that banks (which the Fund does not own) generally performed well in May while the exchanges that are held in the Fund (such as CME and Deutsche Boerse) struggled.”
CME Group - June 2026
“Of course, there will always be instances where negative sentiment correctly reflects a deterioration in a company's fundamentals. In the case of CME, the Chicago-based derivatives marketplace, this comes in the form of a more complicated relationship with its regulator. When we first invested, one of CME's key strengths was its close ties with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the CFTC. This has deteriorated quickly, as the current administration has moved to replace CFTC executives with individuals sympathetic to new rules on polymarkets and cryptocurrencies. This is a significantly negative development for CME's competitive position and we have moved quickly to sell the holding.”
CME Group - June 2026
“Of course, there will always be instances where negative sentiment correctly reflects a deterioration in a company's fundamentals. In the case of CME, the Chicago-based derivatives marketplace, this comes in the form of a more complicated relationship with its regulator. When we first invested, one of CME's key strengths was its close ties with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the CFTC. This has deteriorated quickly, as the current administration has moved to replace CFTC executives with individuals sympathetic to new rules on polymarkets and cryptocurrencies. This is a significantly negative development for CME's competitive position and we have moved quickly to sell the holding.”
CME Group - June 2026
“Top detractors from performance for the quarter Quarter End Market Cap ($B) Contribution to Return (%) CME Group, Inc. 80.0 (0.59) Intuit Inc. 76.9 (0.47) LPL Financial Holdings Inc. 22.5 (0.14) S&P Global Inc. 123.5 (0.09) Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 162.9 (0.06) CME Group, Inc. operates the world’s largest and most diversified derivatives marketplace. Shares fell 24.8% due to a slowdown in trading activity, reflecting tough comparisons against the prior year and easing market volatility following the onset of the U.S.-Iran war in March. This cyclical softening was exacerbated by concerns over emerging competition from crypto-native “perpetual futures” and uncertainty triggered by the announcement that long-time CEO Terry Duffy will step down next year. We continue to own the stock because we believe that CME enjoys significant competitive advantages and should benefit from increasing adoption of exchange-traded derivatives and episodic volatility spikes.”
CME Group - June 2026
“CME Group was our largest addition during the quarter.”
CME Group - HoldsBaron Financials ETFJune 2026
“We continue to own the stock because we believe CME enjoys significant competitive advantages and should benefit from the growing adoption of exchange-traded derivatives and periodic spikes in market volatility.”
CME Group - June 2026
“CME’s competitive advantage stems from a combination of liquidity and regulation. The second of these is now uncertain and we have reduced the position accordingly.”
CME Group “TOP DETRACTORS Advanced Micro Devices holds a favorable position in the growing CPU market. Prior to inclusion in the Multi Cap Core Strategy, the company’s positive stock return hurt relative performance. Micron Technology holds a favorable position in the growing high bandwidth memory market. Prior to inclusion in the Multi Cap Core Strategy, the company’s positive stock return hurt relative performance. CME Group’s stock retreated due to competitive concerns after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved Kalshi’s application to launch perpetual futures contracts on Bitcoin.”
CME Group- June 2026
“CME Group, Inc. operates the world’s largest and most diversified derivatives marketplace. Shares fell 24.8% due to a slowdown in trading activity, reflecting tough comparisons against the prior year and easing market volatility following the onset of the U.S.-Iran war in March. This cyclical softening was exacerbated by concerns over emerging competition from crypto-native “perpetual futures” and uncertainty triggered by the announcement that long-time CEO Terry Duffy will step down next year. We continue to own the stock because we believe that CME enjoys significant competitive advantages and should benefit from increasing adoption of exchange-traded derivatives and episodic volatility spikes.”
CME Group - HoldsHamlin Capital Management Equity and High Yield Municipal Bond StrategiesJune 2026
“CME, ConocoPhillips, and SLB were the largest detractors during the quarter, declining 17.85% on average.”
CME Group - June 2026
“We sold CME after the regulatory backdrop changed in a way that we believe weakens its competitive position.”
CME Group - June 2026
“Our largest additions included the following names: CME Group, TSMC, Amazon, NVIDIA, Alphabet, Visa, ASML, S&P Global, Stevanato Group, and Brookfield.”
CME Group - HoldsMayTech Global Investments Global Growth StrategyJune 2026
“CME Group came under pressure after regulators approved a new type of cryptocurrency futures contract, raising concerns about increased competition.”
CME Group - June 2026
“Bottom Contributors Verizon Communications shares declined amid large restructuring charges and broader pressure on defensive stocks. CME Group shares came under pressure after U.S. regulators eased restrictions on perpetual futures—derivative contracts that let investors speculate on an asset’s price movements without owning the asset, with no expiration date—which could present competitive challenges to established exchanges. We remain confident in our thesis given CME’s institutional dominance.”
CME Group - HoldsManole Capital ManagementJune 2026
“Companies such as CME, Robinhood, Miami Exchange, and Schwab have all benefited directly or indirectly from growing interest in event driven trading, retail engagement and expanding market participation.”
CME Group - June 2026
“CME Group (CME) was the main detractor to Real Asset returns this year. During the quarter, the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) granted approval to prediction market operator Kalshi to launch “perpetual” futures. This opens up a competitive threat to CME’s long-held monopoly futures franchises across benchmarks such as the S&P 500. There are legal arguments against the viability of these products, and CME are pursuing these avenues. CME’s competitive advantage stems from a combination of liquidity and regulation. The second of these is now uncertain and we have reduced the position accordingly.”
CME Group - HoldsAcción GlobalJune 2026
“Thus, during the last few months, we have had the opportunity to gradually build a "quality basket", in businesses of the highest quality, at valuations that we had not been able to find during the last 10-15 years. Some examples of them are CME Group (absolute monopoly in several specific types of derivatives and competitive advantage through a virtuous circle of liquidity very difficult to disrupt), FICO (hyper asset-light business and gold standard in credit scorings in the United States), Moody's (oligopoly of credit ratings) or Ryan Specialty (leader in non-regulated insurance brokerage).”
CME Group - March 2026
Listed in HL Global Carbon Transition Equity’s reported holdings.
CME Group - December 2025
Listed in Royal London Global Equity Income Fund’s reported holdings.
CME Group - September 2025
“CME Group (CME) remains a standout business with strong earnings driven by high volumes in rates and FX products.”
CME Group - August 2025
“The top three absolute contributors to the Fund’s performance in August were TKO, Alphabet and American Express, and the top three absolute detractors were Oracle, Intuit and CME Group.”
CME Group - June 2025
Listed in Madison Dividend Income Fund’s reported holdings.
CME Group
Also mentioned · 4
These funds discuss CME Group as a competitor, benchmark or comparable, without disclosing a position in it.
- MentionedGuinness Global Innovators FundAugust 2026
“CME Chairman and CEO, Terry Duffy: "The first half of 2026 was the strongest in CME Group's history... powered by record trading in Q1 and our second-highest Q2 volumes ever."”
CME Group - MentionedACATIS Investment ReportJuly 2026
“The potential pressure from the com- petition also weighed heavily on the stock of Intercontinental Ex- change and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in June.”
CME Group - June 2026
“Our bottom five contributors to return in Q2 were Accenture, CME Group, Salesforce, Boston Scientific and EOG Resources.”
CME Group - MentionedGreensKeeper Value FundJune 2026
“Nevertheless, ICE’s shares declined alongside peers including Cboe Global Markets (CBOE) and CME Group (CME), amid concerns of a cyclical peak in earnings.”
CME Group
Fund coverage · 5 theses
- Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund (Hedged)September 2026
CME Group's exchange business continues to perform strongly with 16% volume growth and record revenues and earnings, while the competitive threat from perpetual futures is limited for its institutional client base.
Read the full thesis - Hamlin Capital Management Equity and High Yield Municipal Bond StrategiesSeptember 2026
CME Group is supported by its leading derivatives franchises and easing concerns about competitive threats to its core businesses.
Read the full thesis - Alpha Wealth FundsMarch 2026
CME Group is a near-monopoly derivatives exchange offering a structural hedge on market volatility.
Read the full thesis - Cooper Investors Global Equities FundSeptember 2025
CME Group is the largest global derivatives exchange operator with high operating margins, strong network effects, and stable royalty-like revenues.
Read the full thesis - Baron Durable Advantage FundJune 2025
CME Group, Inc. is a leading financial exchange benefiting from increased demand for derivatives during market volatility, with competitive advantages that ensure strong margins and returns for shareholders.
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