Major Changes in Institutional Holdings in US Stocks in Q2: Growing Divergence in Technology Stocks, Giant Companies Adopt Different Strategies

As the second quarter of 2025 US stock holding report (13F) is intensively disclosed, the repositioning trajectories of global top institutions such as UBS, Fidelity Bank, Nomura, Soros Fund are gradually becoming clear. Against the backdrop of the AI boom and market volatility, there is a clear divergence in the attitudes of giants towards tech stocks: some are reducing positions for hedging, some are contrarily increasing positions, and some are gambling on volatility through options tools. These actions not only reflect the institutions' judgments on the current market, but may also foreshadow the next phase of investment themes. UBS: Reducing positions in tech giants, betting on a Nasdaq pullback As a leader in international wealth management, UBS's position changes have always been considered a market indicator. In the second quarter, UBS's total market value of US stock holdings increased by 7% to $580 billion, but its attitude towards tech stocks has become cautious. Among the top ten major holdings, UBS reduced positions in US tech giants such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Apple across the board: Apple reduced by 10.86%, Nvidia by 5.16%, and Microsoft by 3.95%. At the same time, UBS significantly increased holdings of Nasdaq 100 index put options (QQQ PUT), with the holding quantity increasing by 84.21%, becoming the ninth largest major holding target. This combination of "reducing tech stocks + adding hedging positions" highlights UBS's defensive stance. In the background of the AI boom driving Nasdaq 100 index and S&P 500 index to new highs, UBS chose to take profits and "insure" against a potential Nasdaq pullback through put options. Its strategy is not to be bearish on the entire US stock market, but to focus on the "relative retracement" of tech stocks - after all, the S&P 500 index ETF (SPY) was reduced by 19.76%, while S&P 500 call options were increased, indicating a neutral attitude towards the overall market. Fidelity Bank: Betting on the overall market and AI leaders, balancing offense and defense Unlike UBS's caution, Fidelity Bank showed strong confidence in the US stock market in the second quarter. Its total market value of holdings increased by 9.77% to $483 billion, with the S&P 500 index ETF (SPY) being increased by 47.29%, rising to the second largest major holding, with a market value of $12.38 billion. Internally within tech stocks, Fidelity Bank exhibits a "structural addition" characteristic: Microsoft maintains its position as the top major holding, with a market value of $16.46 billion, an increase of 0.81%; Google saw a significant increase of 30.89%, while Apple only saw a marginal increase of 0.56%, reflecting caution towards the recovery of consumer electronics. Of particular note, AI chip leader Broadcom (AVGO) entered the top ten major holdings for the first time, highlighting the continuous investment in the AI industry chain. On the risk hedging front, Fidelity Bank is also "prepared on both fronts": on one hand, it increased holdings of bond ETFs (AGG) by 3.36% to enhance volatility resistance, on the other hand, it aggressively increased holdings of Nasdaq 100 index put options (QQQ PUT) by 92.25%, forming a hedge against a 30.66% reduction in Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ), showing optimism for the long-term value of tech stocks, while being vigilant against short-term overvaluation risks. Nomura: Betting on the AI application wave, gambling on Tesla's volatility Japanese financial giant Nomura's second quarter holdings can be described as "radical". Its total market value of US stock holdings increased by 13% to $60.5 billion, with the top ten major holdings concentration reaching 32.05%, and a particularly strong focus on AI applications and individual stock volatility. Nomura placed Meta call options (META CALL) at the top of its major holdings, with a market value of $4.3 billion, an increase of 10.98%. With its "AI + digital advertising" model, Meta's stock price has already risen by 35% this year, and Nomura's increased holdings clearly bet on its continued leadership in AI applications. At the same time, Nomura significantly increased holdings of Microsoft call options (MSFT CALL) by 110%, pushing it to the thirteenth largest major holding, forming a dual-core layout in AI applications alongside Meta. What's more noteworthy is the "fancy operation" on Tesla: simultaneously increasing Tesla put options (TSLA PUT) by 158.39%, call options (TSLA CALL) by 151.73%, and the common stock by 44.64%. This strategy of "buying both up and down" is essentially "long volatility" - in the face of uncertainties such as declining sales and management controversies that Tesla is facing, investing in long straddle option combinations to profit from large stock price fluctuations, and using common stock for dynamic hedging, representing a classic strategy for managing "highly controversial assets". Big Players' Showdown: From bearish to bargain hunting, clear style differentiation In addition to large institutions, the operations of hedge fund giants are also intriguing. Pershing Square's Ackman chooses to "focus on consumption": in the second quarter, they established new positions in Amazon, with a market value of $1.3 billion, ranking as the fifth largest major holding; at the same time, they significantly increased positions in Alphabet (GOOGL) by 20.84%, cleared Canadian Pacific Railway, shifting the focus of the portfolio to e-commerce and technology consumer sectors. Soros Fund continues with "cautious defense": significantly increasing positions in S&P 500 put options (SPY PUT) by 168.75%, Russell 2000 put options (IWM PUT) by 320%, while establishing new positions in Nasdaq 100 call options (QQQ CALL), indicating concerns about small-cap stock volatility and selective optimism for tech leaders. The most dramatic turn is from the "Big Short" Michael Barry: in the first quarter, he was shorting Chinese tech stocks and Nvidia, but in the second quarter, he completely "flipped to bullish" - establishing new long positions in UnitedHealth call options (UNH CALL) at $190 million, simultaneously betting on the healthcare recovery with Warren Buffett, buying call options for Meta, ASML, as well as Alibaba and JD, forming a sharp contrast to his previous bearish strategy. This shift coincided with the rebound in the second quarter US stocks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising by 10.57% and 17.75% respectively. Three major signals behind institutional trends Analyzing institutional holdings in the second quarter, three major market signals can be summarized: Tech stock differentiation is set: UBS reducing positions, Fidelity Bank structurally adding positions, Nomura betting on AI applications, reflects that tech stocks have transitioned from a "general rise" to "differentiation" - hard technologies such as AI chips, cloud computing are favored over application layers such as AI advertising, enterprise services, while areas like consumer electronics face divergence. Hedging tools become "standard": from UBS's Nasdaq put options to Fidelity Bank's "QQQ PUT+QQQ" hedge, and Nomura's Tesla long straddle combination, options tools have become the core means for institutions to manage volatility. This indicates that the market has shifted from a "one-way uptrend" to a "volatile market", with institutions focusing more on controlling risks through derivatives. Balancing defense and offense: Soros's put options, Fidelity Bank's bond ETFs are defensive, Nomura's AI bets, Barry's bottom fishing are offensive. This strategy of "balancing offense and defense" suggests that institutions are neither blindly optimistic about the future market, nor extremely pessimistic, but more inclined to find structural opportunities in volatility. For ordinary investors, institutional position changes are not a "copycat" guide, but can be used as an important reference: paying attention to the differentiation opportunities in the AI industry chain, being wary of the risks of a tech stock valuation pullback, and learning to balance portfolio volatility through diversification tools -- after all, in a complex market environment, "survival" is more important than "making quick money".