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14. Viking Global Investors/ $27.2 billion

Location:

Greenwich, CT

Founded:

1999

2016 Hedge Fund 100 Rank:

No. 8

2016 Capital:

$33 billion

2015 Hedge Fund 100 Rank:

No. 6

2015 Capital:

$31.7 billion

Years on List:

Website:

www.vikingglobal.com

Address:

55 Railroad Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830

Phone:

203-863-5000

Fax:

203-863-5001

Other Offices:

New York, London and Hong Kong

Profile & News

Firm Overview

Like the Scandinavian seafarers for which he named his firm, Viking Global Investors founder O. Andreas Halvorsen is drawn to water. Before becoming one of the hedge fund industry’s best-known managers, the Norway native completed studies at the Norwegian Naval Academy and became a Norwegian Navy SEAL afterward.

Halvorsen is one of the most successful of the so-called Tiger Cubs; he spent seven years working at Julian Robertson Jr.'s Tiger Management Corp. Like most Tiger Cubs, Halvorsen maintains an old-school, fundamentally driven value investing approach. But he strays from the pack in other ways, managing a different portfolio from his Tiger Cub peers, who historically run similar books.

But Halvorsen’s investing savvy was put to the test in 2016, when the firm’s Viking Global Equity long-short fund posted a 4 percent loss — its worst year since its 1999 launch. In a letter to investors, Halvorsen made it clear he was very disappointed with how it fared last year and that the firm planned to make changes to its organizational structure, expand the universe of stocks it covers, and boost its analytical capabilities in risk management. It hired Samer Takriti from Goldman Sachs to lead that effort.

Then, in mid-2017, the firm made a stunning announcement, telling investors that longtime chief investment officer Daniel Sundheim would be leaving the firm, and it would return about $8 billion of capital in VGE and the Viking Long Fund.

“We are determined to set the firm up for continued strong performance and long-term success and have decided to reset to a smaller size,” Halvorsen wrote in the letter. “We believe that our strong investment staff combined with a reduction in assets is a potent mix. Everyone on the team has ample runway to grow, and the smaller, more liquid positions will give us greater operating flexibility as we respond to attractive opportunities.” Ben Jacobs and Nin Jing will serve as co-CIOs and run the firm’s central portfolio, the letter said.

Halvorsen moved to the U.S. to pursue studies at Williams College in the 1980s. In 1990 he was named an Arjay Miller scholar, having graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in the top 10 percent of his class.

Strategy

Viking’s funds hold long and short positions in equity securities, debt, credit, derivative and other financial instruments.

Funds and Fees Overview

Viking Global Investors manages two types of private investment funds: Viking Global Equities Funds and Viking Long Funds. The Viking Global Equities fund and the Viking Long fund are closed to new investors, with Halvorsen noting that the Viking Long fund is more likely to open in the future than Viking Global Equities.

Viking Global Equities funds (VGE) are long-short hedge funds. The Viking Global Equities fund is closed to new investors.

17.1 percent

Inception Date:
10/01/1999

Management Fee

1.5 percent of net asset value
per annum

Paid monthly in advance

Incentive Allocation

20 percent of net capital appreciation for investors with one-year lockup

17.5 percent for investors with a three-year lockup

Paid end of each fiscal year.

Viking Long Funds (VLF) are long-only funds established January 1, 2009. The Viking Long Fund is closed to new investors.

19.3 percent

Inception Date:
01/01/2009

Management Fee

1.5 percent of net asset value per annum

Paid monthly in advance

Incentive Allocation

20 percent of net capital appreciation for investors with one-year lockup

17.5 percent for investors with a three-year lockup

Paid end of each fiscal year

Clients

Regulatory Assets Under Management (RAUM)*
Discretionary	$43.38 billion (13 accounts)
Nondiscretionary	$0 (0 accounts)
Total	$43.38 billion (13 accounts)

Employees	153
Clients	11-25 total	31 percent non-U.S.
Fiscal Year Ends	December
All data as of December 31, 2016. *Regulatory Assets Under Management (RAUM) includes no deduction of offsetting liabilities, thus representing gross AUM, not net AUM. RAUM calculations include leverage, proprietary assets and uncalled capital commitments, among other items not required in the calculation of AUM.

Owners and Executives:

Name	Position	Position Held Since
O. Andreas Halvorsen	Chief Executive Officer, Limited Partner	04/1999
David Ott	Executive Committee Member, Limited Partner	04/1999
Daniel Sundheim	Executive Committee Member, Chief Investment Officer	04/2012
Rose Shabet	Chief Operating Officer	02/2009
Eric Komitee	General Counsel	02/2008
Matthew Bloom	Chief Compliance Officer	11/2013
Ning Jin	Director of Viking Global Hong Kong Limited	08/2014
Ellis Whipple	Chief Financial Officer	01/2016