Exchanges have become one of the most important structural holdings in my portfolio because they operate like *royalties on total economic activity*. In the same way that a mineral royalty clips revenue from every ton of ore mined—without digging a single hole—an exchange clips a fee from every trade executed, every contract rolled, every IPO listed, and every data packet sold. They participate in the growth of the entire system without bearing the operational or capital intensity of the underlying participants.
This model creates a uniquely resilient and scalable business. Exchanges do not need to guess which stock, sector, or theme will outperform. They simply take a small toll on the continuous flow of global capital. Volumes rise during booms and volatility, listings expand with economic growth, and even in downturns trading activity often spikes. It’s a structural advantage that compounds quietly in the background.
What makes exchanges especially attractive is the transition from “venues” to “platforms.” Today’s leading exchanges earn revenue from market data, clearing, settlement, analytics, and connectivity fees. These tend to be high-margin, recurring, and inflation-resistant. Importantly, the operating leverage is enormous: once the infrastructure is built, incremental transactions cost almost nothing, so additional volume falls straight to the bottom line.
From a portfolio-construction perspective, exchanges give me a way to own the growth of entire economies—without taking single-company risk. Whether it’s the U.S., Asia, or emerging markets, the exchange is the cleanest, simplest way to participate in rising wealth, financialization, and capital-market depth. They benefit from long-term secular trends like indexation, ETF proliferation, derivatives adoption, and cross-border capital flows.
In short: while most investors try to pick winners, I prefer to own the *toll-booths*. Exchanges are the modern royalty on human economic activity—durable, scalable, and perfectly aligned with global growth.
$NDAQ (Nasdaq Inc.)$CME (CME Group)$ICE (Intercontinental Exchange Inc)$DB1.DE (Deutsche Boerse AG)... Show More
We use our own and third-party cookies on our websites to enhance your experience, analyze traffic, and for security and marketing. For more info, see our Cookie Policy or go to Manage Settings.
Privacy Preference Center
When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.
More information
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Cookie List
label
ConsentLeg.Interest
label
label
label
Sun Feb 08 2026 11:19:50 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
