Episode summary
Want to Find the Next Nvidia? Here’s How to Watch What ‘Big Active’ Is Buying | Trillions
Trillions
· · 18 min · Hosts: Eric Balchunas, Joel Weber · Guests: Sharoon Francis, David Cohne
Summary
The episode argues that daily holdings disclosures from active ETFs create a legal way to watch what “big active” is accumulating before those bets fully show up in mutual funds and index flows. The host and Eric Balchunas frame this as a modern version of “Blue Horseshoe,” a way to spot the next Nvidia by tracking which stocks influential managers are building over days, weeks, or months.
Bloomberg Intelligence’s new Blue Horseshoe tool filters active ETFs from the broader ETF universe and scores purchases by estimated impact relative to market cap. Sharoon Francis says that lets analysts distinguish a $100 million buy in Nvidia from the same amount in a smaller stock, while David Cohne says the pattern reveals manager conviction because large portfolios cannot trade all at once.
The clearest recent example is Okta, which the host says was the top name in the past 30 days. Eric Balchunas says the iShares Innovation and Tech Active ETF led the buying, with other active funds also initiating positions, and notes Okta rose 13% in two weeks. The discussion also cites JPMorgan’s interest in Veeva Systems, Capital Group’s position in Ryanair Holdings, and Coca-Cola as proof the tool surfaces both growth names and traditional stocks.
Key takeaways
- Eric Balchunas says daily active-ETF transparency can reveal the next Nvidia earlier than quarterly mutual-fund filings.
- Sharoon Francis says Blue Horseshoe’s impact score measures buying relative to market cap, not just dollars invested.
- David Cohne says large active managers build positions slowly, so repeated buying can signal rising conviction over time.
- Eric Balchunas says Okta was the standout name in the last 30 days, with iShares Innovation and Tech Active ETF leading the buying.
- Sharoon Francis says the tool may need liquidity adjustments because some ETFs can exert outsized influence on small-cap stocks.
Notable quotes
“Blue horseshoe likes Anakott Steel." And basically, that's code for Gordon Gecko is very interested in this stock and you should buy it now before it goes up”
“All told, active ETFs now have two trillion in assets”
“we made a new tool called Blue Horseshoe, which tells you what they like day in and day out”
“we made this thing called an impact score which is just simply our estimate for how much money is going into this stock from set ETFs divided by its market cap”
“the answer to that is Octa. I think I'm pronouncing that right. I love that”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios podcasts radio news with mutual funds. I remember when I started in the business, it was semianual to see when their uh holdings were and now it's quarterly. We're still waiting for monthly, but with ETFs, the ETFs give us a way to look at what these managers are going to end up doing in the mutual funds. Welcome to Trillians. I'm Joel Weber.
And I'm Eric Belchunis. — Eric, there's a certain movie from the 1980s that has factored into your work at Bloomberg Intelligence recently. What is that movie?
Yeah, so it's a famous movie for I guess anybody over the age of 40 has definitely seen it. Wall Street with Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen. Great movie.
Oliver Stone directs. Um it inspired a ton of people I think to want to go to Wall Street back in the day. I think Big Short was like kind of replaced it as the movie for the the next generation.
But anyway, it is a movie kind of about insider trading and uh Gordon Gecko is the main big fish guy who's the bad guy kind of. Anyway, when Charlie Sheen is trying to get word out on a stock that Gordon Gecko wants to see the price go up, he basically calls all his best clients and says, "Blue horseshoe likes Anakott Steel. And basically, that's code for Gordon Gecko is very interested in this stock and you should buy it now before it goes up.
And now that is illegal. That's what the movie's about. However, there are ways to get information.
Now, a new development has really kind of transpired that allows us to see what the best, most influential, and biggest active managers are into. You know, the blue horseshoes of the world legally would be like looking at what Fidelity is buying and selling.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- active etfs
- bloomberg intelligence tool
- stock picking transparency
- nvidia
- okta
Companies and tickers mentioned
- NVDA
- OKTA
- Nvidia
- Okta
- Bloomberg Intelligence
- Bloomberg
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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