What the Tiger Cubs Have in Common

It has been well documented that many of the descendents of Julian Robertson, Jr.’s legendary Tiger Management crowd into the same stocks, especially the high-flying tech, Internet, media and telecom companies that have been leading the bull market and merger mania over the past couple of years.

However, within this crowd, a number of the Tiger-affiliated managers tend to have more than half of their portfolio overlap with another fund, thus unintentionally tying their fates to many of the same stocks. In the first quarter, a majority of the most emulated portfolios are among the larger, well-known Tiger Cubs, especially John Griffin’s New York–based Blue Ridge Capital. It is the target of the second and third most overlapped Tiger pairs.

In each of those cases the firm that is mimicking its portfolio is a former Blue Ridge manager. What’s more, the Tiger descendant whose portfolio tops the most overlapping list is also a one-time Blue Ridge employee, although that fund is most mimicking another fund.

These findings are based on Alpha’s analysis of New York–based research firm Novus’s database of public global filings, including the first-quarter 13F filings for no fewer than 50 Tiger-affiliated firms, including Tiger Cubs, Tiger Seeds, Tiger Grandcubs and Tiger Management itself. Novus does not include in its analysis short positions or investments made in sovereign bonds, currencies, credit or other non-equity-related instruments.

The most overlapped Tiger pair finds 69.6 percent of Chris Hansen’s Valiant Capital Management invested in securities held by JAT Capital, the Greenwich, Connecticut–based firm founded in late 2007 by John Thaler, a technology, media and telecommunications specialist. San Francisco–based Hansen is considered a Tiger Grandcub since he previously worked for seven years at Blue Ridge Capital.

The sentiment, however, is not mutual. Just 13 percent of JAT’s portfolio is invested in securities held by Valiant, according to the Novus database. Just eight stocks overlap.

However, while 17 percent of Valiant’s portfolio is in Apple, its largest holding, the iPhone and iPad maker accounts for a mere 0.2 percent of JAT’s assets. And whereas 12.9 percent of Valiant’s portfolio is invested in Google, that stock only accounts for 3.2 percent of JAT’s portfolio. The one stock that accounts for roughly the same percentage of each firm’s portfolio is Facebook — 6.6 percent of Valiant and 5.5 percent of JAT.

The second most overlapped pair is not too surprising. Roughly 66.5 percent of New York–based Slate Path Capital’s portfolio is invested in securities also held by Blue Ridge. New York-based Slate Path was founded in April 2012 by David Greenspan, who was previously a partner and managing director at Blue Ridge. Another partner, Stephen Cook, also previously spent time at Blue Ridge as an analyst.

Even so, the two hedge funds only share eight stocks. One of them is Endo Health Solutions, one of the most popular stocks among all Tiger descendants. It accounts for 11.5 percent of Slate Path’s portfolio and 5.9 percent of Blue Ridge’s fund. On the other hand, while Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold accounts for 10.8 percent of Slate Path, it accounts for less than 1 percent of Blue Ridge.

Other overlapped stocks include popular Tiger stocks in general: cable giant Charter Communications, insurance giant American International Group and Cheniere Energy, which specializes in liquefied natural gas (LNG). Little surprise, then, that just 21 percent of Blue Ridge’s portfolio overlaps with Slate Path’s portfolio.

The third most overlapped pair also has familial roots. About 65 percent of Falcon Edge’s portfolio is invested in securities also held by Blue Ridge. New York–based Falcon Edge was founded in mid-2012 by Richard Gerson, a founding executive at Blue Ridge.

Interestingly, while 65 percent of Falcon Edge’s portfolio is invested in securities also held by Blue Ridge, more than 42 percent of Blue Ridge’s portfolio is invested in Falcon Edge’s securities.

So it’s not surprising that the two firms own 14 of the same stocks. They include several that roughly account for similar shares of their respective portfolios, such as Endo Health Solutions; Colfax, an industrial company; online travel giant Priceline Group; and AIG. On the other hand, car rental giant Avis Budget Group accounts for 8.5 percent of Falcon Edge — its largest overlapped position — but just 3.5 percent of Blue Ridge.

In the fourth-most-overlapping pair, nearly 65 percent of Miura Global Management’s portfolio is also held by New York–based Tiger Global Management, led by Tiger Cub Charles (Chase) Coleman III and Feroz Dewan.

Coleman initially worked for Tiger before becoming one of Robertson’s first seeds. New York–based Miura Global Management was founded by Pasco Alfaro and Richard Turnure in May 2004. It was not initially a seed, but Robertson invested in the fund 18 months later.

In any case, just 35.3 percent of Tiger Global’s assets are held by Miura. However, the two hedge funds share positions in 10 different stocks.

The biggest disparity is Kate Spade, the women’s clothing and accessories company, which accounts for more than 14 percent of Miura’s assets but a mere 0.4 percent of Tiger Global’s portfolio. Restoration Hardware, the upscale hardware and home furnishings company, accounts for more than 12 percent of Miura’s book and 1.8 percent of Tiger Global’s.

However, they are more aligned with their stakes in Vipshop Holdings, the Chinese online discount retailer; cable giant Liberty Global’s “C” shares and media company Twenty First Century Fox, which is the only stock among the 10 that is a larger share of Tiger Global’s portfolio.